Teams and Families
by missmoney101
Summary: WARNING! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ FEELINGS. Sequel to Feelings set in the Red vs Blue time as opposed to the Preject Freelancer time. The Reds get a new team member who is very closely related to one of the Blues. Rated T for swearing and Tucker
1. Chapter 1

Teams and Families

**A.N. Warning! Do not read if you haven't read Feelings. This story focuses on Tex and Wash's daughter Escopeta (whose name means 'Shotgun' in Spanish). This is a sort of sequel to Feelings, set in the Red vs Blue time as opposed to the Project Freelancer time. For any of you who are concerned, I'm not going to stop writing Feelings; this story is just a follow on from it. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review but no flames! And flames will be fed to The Meta**

* * *

_Prologue_

_Escopeta looked out the window of the orphanage; she had been sent to her room for fighting again. She couldn't help it, it just felt natural. That, and saying that something was the worst thing ever. Of all time. The 16 year old sighed and leant against the window sill. All of a sudden, the door to her room opened and she heard voices, two of which she didn't recognise and the third she did; Mrs Souza, the owner of the orphanage._

"_Get your stuff, girl! You're leaving!" she snapped. Escopeta sighed and gathered her meagre belongings which included an M6C Magnum with two states (Washington and Texas) carved into it. Walking out the room, she found herself face to face with two soldiers wearing Mark VI armour, one maroon and one orange. The two men introduced themselves as Simmons and Grif. They told her that they were looking for someone to join the Red team in fighting against the Blue team and they thought that she would be perfect. As they were leaving the orphanage in a Warthog (which played incredibly loud and annoyingly catchy accordion music) Simmons told her a story of all the adventures that they'd had; fighting against an evil AI called Beta from a training project called Project Freelancer, having the shit beaten out of them by a Freelancer called Texas (or just Tex) and her AI Omega, Tucker (one of the Blues) getting pregnant, finding out that the leader of Blue Team, Church, was actually the Alpha, _another_ AI, when they went on a mission with another Freelancer called Washington (aka Wash), fighting against an evil creature called The Meta who killed Freelancers and stole their AI and equipment, going on a mission in the desert to find Tucker, brining Church back as Epsilon, being taken hostage by Wash and The Meta, running into Tex again and poor Grif having his balls pounded mercilessly, Church going into a storage unit after they managed to kill The Meta, Wash becoming the new leader of the Blues and kicking the Reds' asses, meeting yet _another _Freelancer called Carolina who wanted them to go and kill the Director of Project Freelancer, bringing Church out of the storage unit, Wash calling the Reds and Blues his friends and protecting them from Carolina (the crazy bitch) who threatened to shoot them after they refused to go on any more with the whole 'killing the Director' shit as it wasn't their problem, going back and helping Carolina and Church defeat a whole army of Tex robots which the Director had created because he loved Tex (she reminded him of his girlfriend, Allison and even shared the same name as her), Church and Carolina going off to do some more Freelancer stuff, returning to the one place that they could call home; Blood Gulch, Sarge constantly trying to get Grif killed, Simmons being a kiss-ass, Grif being lazy, Donut being gay, nobody understanding Lopez the Spanish robot, Church constantly getting killed and being a dick, Tucker annoying everyone by getting this sword-prophecy-thing, being a pervert and constantly saying 'Bow Chicka Bow Wow' and Caboose being a dumbass. By the time he had finished, they had arrived at Red Base where Sarge was waiting. Escopeta was suited up in scarlet Mark VI armour and trained to use a sniper rifle. All of this was kept secret from the Blues until she was sent into combat when her training was complete when she was 17. The Blues began screaming that there was another crazy bitch who was going to kick their asses and began running back to Blue Base like the pussies they were._

* * *

Two years later

"Alright you Bluetards," I growled as I looked down the scope of my sniper rifle. "Let's see how dumb you are." Aiming my rifle at a random spot in the cliff to the North West of Blue Base, I fired. It had the desired effect. Tucker (who was on guard duty) jumped about five feet in the air and ran inside to get Washington. After he dragged him outside, I fired twice more. The Blues ran out of their base in the direction of my shots. I smiled and activated my comm. system.

"Escopeta calling Red Base. The Blues have fallen for the decoy. Now proceeding to capture the flag."

"Excellent work!" Sarge's gruff voice answered. "Those dirty Blues won't know what hit 'em. Grif! Why can't you be more like this?"  
"Fuck off Sarge!" Grif's distant voice echoed. Shaking my head, I smiled wider. I love the Reds; they've become my family as well as my team. I'm still curious as to who my real parents are (I was left on the doorstep of the first orphanage I went to with my Magnum and a note which said my name. I've asked Simmons to try and decipher why I have two states carved on my side arm but he doesn't know either) but it doesn't seem as important anymore. I mean sure, Simmons is a kiss-ass, Grif is lazy, Donut is gay, nobody know what Lopez is saying and Sarge is a bit of a control freak, but I don't know where I'd be in life without them. Probably in a mental hospital because of my violent tendencies or still stuck at an orphanage. Sliding down the cliff, I checked around for any Blue defences, namely Sheila the tank. The Blues had managed to extract her from a pelican where they had put her when they killed Beta and put her back in her tank form. It's well known among the Reds that Lopez has a soft spot for Sheila and we tease him mercilessly about it…which usually leads to him throwing vehicles at us and swearing in Spanish. The coast was clear. Sneaking in, I put my sniper rifle on my back and skirted around the corners, looking out for Caboose or Doc (the useless medic who was a pacifist. He had been possessed by Beta for some time before the AI was killed and had now returned to Blood Gulch). Nothing. I crept into the room where I knew that they kept the flag. It was pitch black so I turned on the light.

"SURPRISE!" Caboose yelled and leapt out from behind some crates.

"SHIT!" I screamed and flung myself back against the wall.

"Oh," Caboose seemed puzzled. "You're not Agent Washingtub."

"No…shit…" I panted. "Caboose, what the fuck is all this about?"

"It's Agent Washingtub's birthday," Caboose said happily. "So I'm throwing him a surprise party!" Looking around, I saw the flag perched on top of some crates amongst the balloons and streamers.

"Caboose?" I said sweetly.

"Yes Escalator?" the dumbass replied in excitement. He always gets my name wrong but for once I didn't point it out.

"You know Sarge, my leader and the captain of the pirate ship?" I continued. Seriously, this idiot thinks a lot of things are what they're not. Like he thinks my name is Escalator, Sarge is a pirate, Grif is spelt with two f's, Tucker is a pussy, Donut is a girl, Washington's name is Washingtub, Church (the old Blue leader who I've never met) was his best friend and Simmons…I don't really know about Simmons.

"Yes?" Caboose said slowly.

"Well, it's his birthday too!" I said in a loud whisper. "And you know, he'd really love to have that flag to fly on his ship."

"Ok!" Caboose said cheerfully and passed it down to me.

"Thank you," I smiled (even though he couldn't see behind my helmet). "Tell Washington I said happy birthday." I ran out the room, laughing silently.

"Goodbye Escalator!" Caboose called after me. Going back the way I came, I ran towards the exit. I was almost there when a hand fell on my shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere with that," Washington's voice said coolly.

"Argh!" I screamed. I spun round and swung a punch at him but the ex-Freelancer dodged iteasily. Tucker appeared in the entrance, blocking any escape route I might have tried to use.

"You know, we ain't that stupid," he smirked and folded his arms. Swearing loudly, I tried to run at him and punch my way past him but Washington held me back.

"Fuck you, Washington!" I shrieked. "FUCK. YOU!"

"I'd rather you didn't," he said calmly.

"She can fuck me," Tucker grinned."Bow Chicka Bow W-OW! MY BALLS! OH YOU BITCH!" I stood, grinning as Tucker clasped his balls where I'd rammed my foot.

"Escopeta!" Simmons' voice suddenly sounded over my comm. system. "Are you ok? We can hear Tucker screaming about his balls from here."

"I got the flag," I said grimly. "But the Blues have captured me. I'll let you know if I need backup."

"Shit! Grif! Why the fuck didn't you warn her that the Blue were coming back? Grif? Oh my god, as if you went to sleep!" Simmons screeched.

"Come on," Washington's voice broke in suddenly. "Hand the flag over."

"Mine!" I snarled and tried to wriggle away but Washington's grip was too firm.

"Fine," he sighed. "Doc?" he called over his shoulder. "Sedate her."

"Don't you fucking dare!" I hissed as the purple medic approached, carrying a needle.

"This won't hurt a bit," he said soothingly as he pressed the needle into my neck.

"Asshole!" I groaned before everything went black and I fell to the floor.

* * *

When I woke up again, I was lying on my side in the room where Caboose was throwing Washington's surprise party. Wriggling my arms, I found out that the Blue bastards had tied my hands behind my back. Looking up, I saw Tucker grinning in the corner, Washingtonsitting in a chair with one leg on top of the other and his arms folded and Caboose colouring with crayons. All of a sudden, Doc burst into the room, clutching a piece of paper.

"Wash, you have gotta see this," he gasped. "It's the result of the blood test."

"Dickhead!" I exclaimed, scowling at the thought of him doing a blood test on me while I was unconcious. Everyone ignored me.

"What's so drastic, Doc?" Wash frowned, scanning over the piece of paper. "Everything looks fine to me."

"The DNA, Wash!" Doc howled. "Her DNA, your DNA. Look! Half of hers is identical to yours! _She's your daughter_!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Bullshit!" I gasped.

"Doc, you must have made a mistake," Washington said at the same time.

"I haven't!" the medic squawked. "Look closer at the DNA! Half of it matches!" Tucker was frowning and Caboose even looked up from his colouring.

"Escalator is related to Agent Washingtub?" he asked, clearly confused.

"No!" Washington and I yelled.

"Yes!" Doc shrieked.

"Then who's the mother?" Tucker asked. "C'mon, Wash, who did you bang (bow chicka bow wow)?"

"Tucker, stop saying that," Washington replied coolly, quickly changing the subject. Tucker, however, wasn't going to be put off.

"No. You haven't answered the question," he persisted.

"Fuck this!" I snapped. "I'm going back to Red Base. You Blues can sort out your own fucking problems." Standing up, I pulled my wrists apart (stupid Blues. You should never have put me next to the cake knife) and stalked out the door.

"Wait!" Doc howled. "You can't leave until we've sorted this out!"

"Go fuck Tucker!" I retaliated.

"HEY!" the Blue yelled.

* * *

Grif was lying outside Red Base. I wacked his helmet as I walked past.

"What the fuck?!" he shrieked.

"Stop falling asleep on the job, Grif," I rolled my eyes. "Where's Sarge?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Fine," I reached down and grabbed his ear under his helmet and dragged him inside the base. Inside, Lopez was repairing a Warthog, Donut and Simmons were reading and Sarge was shooting at holo-Grifs. I cleared my throat.

"Ah, Escopeta, you've returned," Sarge looked up. "Did the Blues give you a hard time?"  
"Meh," I shrugged. "I almost got the flag but I got caught by Washington and Tucker because _someone _fell asleep on guard duty." I looked at Grif.

"Will you let go of my fucking ear?!" he squawked. We all ignored him.

"Then Doc did some blood tests and seemed to think that Washington's my father," I laughed. "How crazy is that? Uh, guys?" They were suddenly all looking at me very seriously, even Donut! Sarge stepped forwards.

"Take off your helmet," even though it was a command, he said it gently.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked as I pulled my helmet off my head and shook my hair out of my face. As I did, I heard an intake of breath from the Reds.

"Holy shit," Sarge stepped forwards and tilted my head upwards so he could get a better look. "Why haven't we seen this before. Look how similar she is to him."

"That's creepy," Grif muttered, rubbing his ear.

"Guys?" I asked. "This can't really be true, can it? If so, then who's my mother?"

"Fuck's sake!" Simmons slapped his head. We all jumped and stared at him. He turned to me.

"The states carved on your Magnum. Washington and Texas."

"Oh my god," Grif breathed. "Wash and Tex are your parents. Shit! My balls are doomed!"

"What?!" I squeaked. "B-but I…"

"That could explain a lot," Simmons turned to Sarge, who was frowning slightly.

"But I don't want to join the Blues!" I burst out. "You guys are my family! I've never even met Texas and I've been fighting against Washington for three years!"

"Join the Blues?" Sarge looked at me in amazement. "Don't be ridiculous, we're not kicking you off Red Team! You're the best fighter we've got and you're one of the team. No Freelancer parent can ever take that away." I was about to reply when we heard a crashing sound and lots of swearing.

"Fuck! Tucker, just get the flag!" Washington hissed.

"I can't fucking help it that the Reds left a trip wire here!" Tucker snapped back. Slowly, we all turned to look at Donut.

"I thought it would be fun to play 'jump over the wire'!" he said happily.

"Imbécile," Lopez muttered. All of a sudden, the doors opened and the two Blues crept in. they stood up when they saw that we were all there.

"Fuck's sake, Caboose!" Tucker yelled behind him. "And you too, Doc!"

"Ooh, language," Doc scolded as he and Caboose followed Tucker and Washington inside.

"What the fuck are you Bluetards doing in my base?" Sarge roared. Doc held up his hands.

"Calm down Sarge," he said soothingly. "We just want to talk." By that time, Simmons, Grif and I were already in the Warthog (Grif at the wheel, me in the shotgun seat with my sniper rifle aimed at the Blues and Simmons manning the turret).

"What about?" Sarge said suspiciously. I loaded my sniper rifle, Grif turned the engine on and Simmons positioned the turret.

"Family," Doc replied calmly. My sniper rifle began to tremble. Doc strode over to Sarge.

"Look at the DNA of Wash and then look at the DNA of Escopeta. Half of the chromosomes match. They're directly related," Doc continued.

"I still don't agree with this," Washington muttered. I threw my magnum at him. He caught it and looked at the two states carved into it. He sighed.

"Fine. Maybe Doc is right," he admitted.

"I told you so!" the pacifist shrieked.

"Shut up, Doc!" we all snapped. Tucker turned to Washington.

"So who's the mother?"

"Tex."

"_Tex_?!" Tucker's jaw dropped. "You banged Tex? I am so fucking jealous of you!" I ignored him and jumped out of the Warthog. I scowled up at Washington…my dad.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

I sat on my bed with my knees pulled up to my chin while Washington (I still can't think of him as 'Dad') sat in a chair opposite me.

"Why did you leave me at the orphanage?" I whispered. Washington sighed.

"We didn't want to, trust me. But the Director forced us to. You see, he loved your mother because she reminded him of his girlfriend, Allison. She looks a little bit like her and even shares the same name. But Tex, much to his dismay, didn't love him back."

"She loves you?" I guessed.

"Yes. When she broke the news that she was carrying my child (she did it to get rid of this total jerk of an agent, Hawaii, who kept hitting on her), the news got to the Director quite quickly. He called us both in and forced Tex to either have an abortion or have the baby adopted."

"What a moody fuck," I muttered and Washington nodded in agreement.

"Well, when you were born, Tex had no choice. The Director wanted us to have no contact with you, but Omega (Tex's AI) came up with carving our states on the Magnum. We tried to keep tabs on you, but it was damn near impossible. Then I had my AI implantation…" he trailed off but I knew the story. Washington's AI had gone insane and detonated while still inside his head.

"After Tex lead the break in to free the Alpha and then managed to escape after Maine became The Meta, we sort of, lost contact. Sometimes I've managed to speak to her if by chance, I'm broadcasting on the frequency that Omega's using, but I haven't seen her in a long time," he dipped his head. He obviously loved Tex very much. Tentatively, I walked over to him and put my arms round him. Slowly, and just as unsurely, he did the same. The first hug I've ever had with my dad sort of mirrors our relationship; unsure at first but is hopefully going to get stronger, even though I'm a Red and he's a Blue. All of a sudden, I heard a sniff.

"So sweet," I heard Donut's voice whisper.

"FUCK OFF DONUT!" I screamed and threw a cushion at the door. There was a small shriek and the sound of feet scampering away. Washington and I talked for a bit longer until Sarge's voice sounded over the comm.

"You may want to see this," he said grimly. Washington and I walked into the observation room of Red Base where the others were scowling.

"What's wrong?" Washington asked. Sarge pointed outside. Looking out, I saw a Spartan with the same colour armour as Tucker standing in between Red and Blue Base. I frowned.

"Who's that?" I looked up to see the Reds and Blues glaring at the Spartan and Washington looked furious.

"Carolina's back," he snarled. I gasped as I remembered what he had told me in my room.

"The Freelancer who ratted you and Texas out to the Director?"


	3. Chapter 3

The Blues hadn't brought a vehicle so Lopez reluctantly leant them one of our spare Warthogs.

"Romperlo, y estás muerto," he warned as the Blues climbed in and Washington started the engine. As usual, none of us understood him. I climbed into our secondary Warthog with Lopez manning the turret and Donut driving. Sarge, Grif and Simmons took up their regular positions in the primary Warthog. The drivers started the engines and the music began to blare out.

"Fuck's sake Lopez, can't you fix that thing?" Grif yelled.

"No." Lopez said simply and took the handbrake off. The primary Warthog drove out first, followed by us and then the Blues. We left Doc behind. Carolina was talking to a glowing figure next to her (her AI I suppose) but turned when she heard the music. She took her helmet off and smirked.

"Kill the crazy bitch!" Sarge yelled. "But let her kill Grif first!"

"Fuck off Sarge!" Grif retaliated.

"I'll shoot him for you sir!" Simmons cried eagerly.

"¿No esos tres idiotas nunca cierran la boca y se concentran en la tarea?" Lopez muttered. As we pulled up alongside Carolina, the Warthog engines were cut and the Blues jumped out. We sensible Reds stayed in the cars but we had our guns pointing at the Freelancer.

"Washington," Carolina strode towards him.

"What the fuck do you want?" Washington hissed. Carolina folded her arms.

"No need to be rude Wash," she scowled.

"Only my _friends_," Washington put emphasis on the 'friends'. "Call me Wash."

"Whatever, _Washington_," Carolina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Church and I have been doing some digging, and we've found out that the Director created a couple more AI fragments before the Alpha was transferred. We've managed to retrieve one of them," she held up a syringe that contained a minute AI storage unit. "Lambda; the Alpha's calmness."

"So?" Washington shrugged. "What has that got to do with us?"

"I want you to have it Wash," Carolina said.

"Wait, what?" Washington took a step back. "I'm never having an AI in my head again!"

"Oh don't be such a pussy Washington," Epsilon (or Church) folded his arms.

"You're not the _only_ one who has the Alpha's memories Epsilon!" Washington snapped.

"Fine!" Carolina growled. "I have to implant it into someone but I don't trust these idiots with something as valuable as this!" she turned to us and caught sight of me. She smiled a slow, sinister smile.

"Oh shit," I whispered.

"On second thoughts," she purred and took a step towards me.

"Carolina, if you even think about it," Washington threatened. We trained our guns on the advancing Freelancer but all of a sudden, she moved forwards with such a great speed none of us knew what was happening until she had tackled me out of the Warthog and pinned me to the ground, face down, with her on top of me.

"What the fuck?" I screamed.

"Red Team, FIRE!" Sarge bellowed and cocked his shotgun.

"¡No te twats, no dispare! ¡Usted va a golpear la Escopeta!" Lopez yelled.

"Sarge, wait!" Simmons said. "If we fire, we'll hit Escopeta!"

"¡Eso es lo que dije!" Lopez snapped.

"Now, this won't hurt too much," Carolina whispered in my ear. "AI implantation has improved since Project Freelancer." She pulled off my helmet. I was still struggling as she pushed my hair off the back of my neck, almost gently, and plunged the needle into my flesh.

"OW!" I shrieked as she pressed down on the plunger, transferring the contents into me, and took the needle out. Almost immediately, I began to feel woozy. I felt another presence in my head and I felt its curiosity as well as its calmness as it began whispering slightly. It felt like a tickle. As I focused on it, it became easier and I managed to get to my feet. Looking behind me, I heard yells and I saw Washington and Sarge pounce on Carolina and hold her up against the Warthog where Grif, Simmons, Lopez and Tucker aimed their weapons at her (Donut and Caboose where too busy talking about ponies).

"What the _hell _was that for?!" Washington snarled.

"Oh come on Wash, stop making such a big fuss," Carolina rolled her eyes. "it's not that bad." She turned her head and saw me and instantly her face went white.

"Texas?" she gasped. "No! It can't be!" I took a step backwards in confusion before I collapsed again. The last thing I felt before I blacked out was someone catching me in their arms. I think it was Tucker.

* * *

When I came to, I saw that I was lying on a medical berth (in Red Base thankfully) and I instantly began to panic. Looking down, I saw I had been tethered to the berth and I began to try and break free.

"Hush," a calming voice said next to me. I looked around but there was no one else in the room. I continued to struggle.

"That will do you more harm than good," the voice said again soothingly. "They had to tie you down because you were thrashing around wildly and were putting yourself in danger. It's for your own safety."

"Who are you?" I whispered. A black and red humanoid glowing figure appeared in front of me.

"My name is Lambda," he said. "I am the AI fragment of calmness." I groaned as I remembered why I blacked out in the first place.

"Of course; Carolina implanted you into me."

"Correct," Lambda said calmly. "I hope you don't mind, but while you were unconscious I did a diagnostic on you. Please tell me if I am correct in what I obtained."

"Uh, sure."

"Your name is Escopeta?"

"Yes. It means 'shotgun' in Spanish, which appeals to Lopez I think."

"Inputting data…completed. You are a member of Red Team?"

"Yes," I said proudly. "We're the best team in Blood Gulch and we're going to beat the shit out of the Blues!"

"Inputting data…completed. Your parents are Freelancer Agents Washington and Texas?"

"Uh…" I faltered. "It would appear so." I whispered eventually. Lambda nodded once and there was an awkward silence.

"So, um," I said after a while. "What's it…er like being an AI?" Lambda smiled.

"The same as being a human," he said calmly.

"Wait a sec," I sat upright. "Can you contact other the AIs that were made from the Alpha? And subsequently their Freelancers?"

"Yes," Lambda cocked his head curiously. "Why do you ask?" I felt a growing sense of excitement and I leant forwards.

"So you can contact Delta for example?" Delta was a safe bet; the Reds had talked about him positively.

"Yes, and through him Agent New York." It was now or never. I took a deep breath.

"What about Omega?"

"Omega is hard to reach," Lambda frowned. "He uses different frequencies in a random order so it's not easy to contact him or Agent Texas."

"But can you do it?" I felt dread and hope pooling in my stomach. Lambda thought for several minutes.

"It can be done," he confirmed.

"Lambda, you're the best," I grinned. He disappeared and appeared again on my shoulder. Looking down, I saw that the tethers had come loose and I pulled my hands free.

"Do you think that I'll be allowed to go?" I asked Lambda.

"I don't see any reason why not," the AI,_ my_ AI, replied calmly.

"Well fuck it, I'm going anyway," I got off the berth and took several unsteady steps towards the door. "What time is it?"

"21:00 hours," Lambda replied.

"Christ, I've been out for seven hours?" I muttered. Lambda nodded once and logged off, although I could still feel his presence in my mind. Pushing open the door and closing it behind me, I turned the corner to see Washington sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

"Washington?" I asked tentatively. He looked up and gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank god you're ok," he pulled me close into a hug. After several seconds, I put my arms round him too. Beneath his armour, I heard the steady rhythm of his heart beating. I could smell his cologne and soap, indicating that he had had a shower since I had been unconscious. For several minutes, we just held each other close, trying to make up for almost 19 years apart in that one hug. Just me and my dad.

"Where's Carolina?" I asked as we eventually let go. Washington grinned, the same way that I grinned, with the left side of his mouth curved up and the right side with his pearly teeth showing.

"This way," he led me along the corridor, to our training room. "How's the AI?" he asked after a bit.

"He's nice," I answered. "He's very calming. He also says…" I hesitated for a moment. "That he can contact Omega, and through him, Texas." Washington turned slowly to me, his eyes filled with hope.

"It is hard," Lambda appeared in between us. "But it can be done."

"Excellent," Washington smiled. "Thank you Lambda."

"My pleasure, Agent Washington," Lambda logged off again. When we reached the training room, we saw Sarge, Simmons, Donut, Caboose, Tucker and Lopez watching Grif in the Warthog driving after Carolina, who was using Epsilon to activate her sprint ability but was tiring fast.

"Lambda, what's my armour ability?" I asked.

"Teleportation," was the answer. I grinned.

"Awesome."

"Bearing in mind that armour abilities aren't always reliable and can backfire badly, like with Utah," Washington warned.

"You just don't want me using it to capture your flag," I leant my head against his body and he put his arm round me.

"…Maybe," he admitted.

"What…is…the…point…of…this?" Carolina gasped. "This…is…stupid!"

"Por el contrario," Lopez folded his arms. "Nos permite ver una larga durabilidad del Warthog y siempre hay la posibilidad de que se ejecute más de lo que sería una verdadera puta vergüenza."

"What?" we all turned to him.

"He said it's good for teaching the Warthog how to read!" Donut said cheerfully.

"¡Vete a la mierda!" Lopez snapped.

"For her sake, she'd better not break the Warthog," I commented to Washington as Carolina narrowly avoided being run over. "Lopez would blow his nut."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'Break it and you're dead', 'No', 'Can't those three idiots shut up and focus on the fucking task?', 'No you twats, don't shoot! You'll hit Escopeta!', 'That's what I said!', 'On the contrary, we can see the Warthog's durability and there's the possibility of you being run over which would be a real fucking shame', 'Fuck you!' Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed/favourited this story! **


	4. Chapter 4

I was reading in my bedroom when Carolina stormed in. Several hours before, she had somehow managed to outlast the Warthog and stupidly decided to blow it up, just as Grif had climbed out. Thus, she brought the wrath of Lopez down on her.

"¿Qué diablos fue eso?" he screamed. "¡Oh usted se encontrará ahora perra!" The rest of us had decided to leave at that point. As an extra touch, Sarge locked the door, leaving Carolina with an exhausted AI who couldn't defend her aginst a very angry Spanish robot. The Blues left after Donut had baked us all cupcakes with light-ish red icing to match his light-ish red armour. Lopez had arrived 10 minutes later looking satisfied (at least we think he was satisfied, it's hard to tell behind the helmet).

"Dudo que maldita perra se rompe más de mis Warthogs," he said happily. We all drank some coffee and then I announced that I was going to bed. I took my armour off, changed into my pyjamas and took a book out to read to Lambda. Washington had told me that the AIs like being read to, not that he ever got a chance with Epsilon but that Texas, York and North told him so. I had gotten almost halfway through when Carolina burst in.

"Agent Carolina, I do believe that it is polite to knock when you enter a room that is not yours," Lambda said calmly. I, however, wasn't as calm.

"Fuck off Carolina! This is my room!"

"Touchy, touchy," Carolina picked up my helmet and examined it. "So, _Texas_," she walked up to me. "You've gone down in the world. One minute you're the top of the leader board in Project Freelancer (and honour that should have been _mine_) and now you're hanging around with these ragtag bunch of pussies?" I sighed in exasperation and put my book down.

"I'm not Texas. I've never even met her."

"Oh?" Carolina clearly didn't believe me. "Then why do you look so much like her?"

"Apparently," I picked my book up again. "She's my mother." Glancing up, I saw all the colour drain away from Carolina's face.

"No," she whispered, aghast. "No!" she strode towards me and grabbed me by my shoulders.

"What the fuck?!"

"How old are you?" she hissed. "_How old are you_?!"

"How…does…that…apply…to…anything…?" I got out as she shook me vigorously.

"Answer me!" she screamed.

"Almost nineteen!" I snapped. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Lambda and Epsilon were also arguing.

"No, no, NO!" my attention was dragged back to Carolina. She let me go and took a step back. I slowly moved to the edge of my bed, trying to get away from the crazy bitch.

"_Lambda?" _I whispered inside my head so only he could hear me.

"_Yes?"_

"_When I give the word, can you have one or all the Reds up here immediately? Preferably Lopez or Sarge but Simmons or Donut would be fine."_

"_What about Private Grif?"_

"_Lambda, I've told you about Grif. Do you really think he's going to give up his nap time to deal with a Freelancer?"_

"…_Noted. Order understood."_

"No," Carolina hissed again. "Texas and Washington's child? Here? This is bad…but it could be incredibly useful for me finally being able to beat Texas!" she came up close to me again. "You're coming with me. Now."

"What the fuck? No!" _Lambda, now! _I pleaded inside my head.

"You have no choice in the matter!" Carolina snapped.

"What the fuck is going on?! You two bitches woke me up! This is the one time I'm actually _allowed _to get some sleep and not do anything!" Grif glared at us from under his tangled mass of hair.

"Grif, get her out of here!" I shrieked, pointing at Carolina. Grif glared at the Freelancer too.

"Fuck off!"

"Not until you're coming with me!" Carolina ignored him.

"Get that Blue bitch outta my base!" Sarge's voice barked. Behind him were Simmons, Donut and Lopez. Sarge brandished his shotgun.

"_Imbeciles_!" Carolina stormed out the room. She turned and pointed at me. "This isn't over!" she snarled before squeaking as Lopez poked his gun in her back and forced her out of the base.

* * *

The next morning, I clambered out of bed, managed to flatten my hair (which vaguely resembled a bird's nest) took a shower, got into my armour and went downstairs to get a hot chocolate. Only Simmons was down there, reading the paper as usual.

"Morning," he called as I poured my drink.

"Morning," I replied and took a sip. "Hey, do you think Sarge would mind if I went out for a bit, just so I can get used to Lambda?"

"Sure," Simmons turned the page. "I'll tell him that you went out spying on the Blues."  
"Thanks Simmons," I walked out the kitchen. Down the corridor, I heard Sarge screaming at Grif, Grif screaming at Sarge, Donut trying to break it up and Lopez mocking him in Spanish. Lambda appeared.

"Does this happen often?"

"All the time," I grinned and walked out the base. When I arrived at the highest point of Blood Gulch, I sat down and inhaled deeply.

"What do you wish to start with?" Lambda asked as he appeared next to me.

"Actually, I, uh, was thinking that since this is the best area to get signal, maybe we could try, um, contacting some others?" Lambda sussed the meaning out almost instantly.

"You would like me to try and contact Omega and Agent Texas?" I blushed.

"If it's ok with you?"

"I will try," Lambda shut his eyes and concentrated hard. Inside my helmet, I heard a lot of static and the occasional part of a conversation would drift through.

"…negative on the go round…"

"…this is a level zero emergency, repeat level zero…"

"…damn! Cover me..."

After almost 40 minutes, we had gotten nowhere. I had begun taking pot-shots at the occasional bird that was flying over Blood Gulch and twiddling the grass that grew beneath me.

"I am sorry," Lambda opened his eyes again. "But it is damn near impossible to contact either Agent Texas or Omega."

"Can't you try just one more time?" I pleaded.

"Very well," Lambda shut his eyes again. After 20 minutes, he opened them in excitement.

"I think I have something!" I leapt to my feet.

"Great! Can you contact them?"

"I will attempt to," Lambda replied. "This is AI designated Lambda from Project Freelancer, carrier Escopeta of the Red Team. Do you receive me?" Static.

"Just leave it Lambda," I sighed, my hopes crushed. "They're not going to-"

"This is AI designated Omega from Project Freelancer, receiving you strength five."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'What the fuck was that for? Oh you're in for it now bitch!' 'I doubt that fucking bitch will be breaking any more of my Warthogs.'**


	5. Chapter 5

I let out a small, involuntary scream and Lambda gave me a weird look before answering Omega.

"Hello, my name is Lambda and I have someone who wishes to speak with you," he nodded at me and I gulped.

"Better make it quick," Omega growled.

"Uh, hi Omega?" I ventured. From what I'd heard from the Reds about him and Texas, they were quite easy to get the wrong side of (why else were Grif's balls pummelled so much?) but according to Washington, if you got on the right side of them, you never regretted it.

"What is your designation?" the AI asked coldly.

"Er, Escopeta of the Red Team?" I muttered. Omega merely gave another growl before another voice sounded over the radio.

"Omega, who are you antagonising over the radio this time?" the voice was female and obviously belonged to Texas.

"Agent Texas?" I guessed, just to make sure.

"That's me. Who are you?"

"Oh, um, I'm a sniper for the Red Team," I fumbled over my words, silently cursing myself. "Grif says his balls are still sore," I said in desperation, in case she ended the radio conversation. Instead, I heard a soft laugh.

"Oh, you're part of the Red Team from Blood Gulch? It's been a while since I've seen those idiots. Are they still fighting against the Blues?"

"We are," I lifted my head a bit, even though Texas couldn't see it.

"I see…how are the Blues? Especially their leader?"

"Washington or Church?" I asked tentatively.

"Wash." I swallowed hard and looked to Lambda for support, asking the question inside my head. Slowly, he nodded.

"Dad's good," I blurted and waited for her reaction, my fingers crossed and my stomach twisting itself into knots.

"I'm sorry?" Texas said quietly. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but did you say 'dad'?" I swallowed again.

"Yeah," I looked down at my sniper rifle that was lying across my lap.

"My god," Texas whispered and I heard Omega muttering something to her.

"Hi, mum," I smiled wryly.

"My baby girl," Texas said softly. "God, it's a relief to know that you're safe, what with the Director gunning for you."

"Wait, what?" Washington had never said anything about the Director wanting me dead!

"Yeah," Texas sighed. "The Director is a very jealous man. He tried to force me and Wash to have an abortion and when that didn't work, he tried to kill you when you were still inside me."

"Jesus," I whispered.

"Fortunately, Omega managed to stop him before he could and we managed to get Maine to put the idea of abortion right out of the Director's head," I heard Omega give a dry chuckle and thought back to what Washington had told me about Maine before his AI, Sigma, had turned him into the Meta.

"What a psycho," I muttered.

"In more ways that you know," Texas said dryly. "Not only what he tried to do to you, but what he did to the Alpha, to Maine, to South, to CT, to Wash and to practically every agent in the project."

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," a familiar voice broke in. Whirling around, I saw Tucker grinning at me from behind a rock.

"Fuck off Tucker!" I snarled and swiped at him.

"Hey, you know me! I could never fuck off, bow chicka bow wow!" the sex pest grinned.

"You are so infuriating!" I screamed and tackled him to the ground.

"What the fuck?" he yelled and then began to screech as I began to smash my fists into his balls.

"You. Are. An. Asshole!" I snapped with every punch.

"Jesus Christ woman, I get the message!" Tucker scrambled away from me and slid down the side of the cliff.

"Was that Tucker?" Texas asked over the radio. She sounded amused.

"Yeah," I sighed and took off my helmet.

"Does he still say 'bow chicka bow wow'?"

"Unfortunately."

"Don't worry about it," Texas reassured me. "I was there when he created it. That was not fun."

* * *

When I got back to Red Base, after talking with Texas for almost 2 hours, and entered the training room, there was an uproar. It seemed that the Blues had tried to sneak in to steal our flag but, in a failed attempt to stay concealed, had blown up one of the Warthogs. The Reds, after hearing all this, opened fire on them and subsequently blew up _another _Warthog. This brought down the wrath of Lopez on us all (even though I wasn't even there!).

"¿Qué coño estabas pensando?" he screamed, but as usual none of us understood him. "¡Usted hizo estallar mi puta Warthog! ¡Juro por Dios que voy a mierda asesinato cada uno de ustedes!"

"Lopez!" Sarge barked. "Calm down! They're just Warthogs; you can easily repair them!"

"¡Cálmate!" Lopez shrieked. "¡Me gustaría ver a calmarse si alguien destruyó la maldita escopeta! ¡A pesar de que probablemente sólo lo saca de Grif, pero eso no es el maldito punto!"

"Just leave it Sarge," Simmons advised. "He'll get over it in his own time."

"¡Vete a la mierda Simmons!" Lopez snapped.

"Now get outta my base, you dirty Blues!" Sarge pointed his shotgun at them. Tucker, I noticed, was still holding his balls, which was weird because the person who was usually injured in that area was Grif.

"May I suggest retreating to your room?" Lambda asked me, calmly. "It may get a bit heated in here."

"I doubt that Lopez is going to let that happen," I pointed to the Spanish robot who was currently screaming at Donut, who had done yet another mistranslation. Breaking his Warthogs and mistranslating what he said; the two things that piss Lopez off the most.

"So," Washington had suddenly appeared behind me. "Is there a reason that Tucker came running into Blue Base two hours ago, clutching his balls and moaning that you were becoming too much like your mother?"

"He interrupted my radio conversation," I protested. "Didn't he, Lambda?"

"I can personally attest to that," my AI agreed. I turned to face Washington.

"See?"

"I doubt that Tucker will take that for an excuse," he said dryly. "Who were you talking to anyway?"

"Texas," I turned back to where Lopez had picked up a Mongoose and thrown it at Donut and Simmons.

"Tex?" Washington's voice was suddenly filled with such hope that I felt the need to reach behind me and squeeze his hand. "You managed to contact her?"

"It took some time but Lambda managed to do it. She, uh," I hesitated. "She misses you a lot," I said softly. Washington sighed and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Hey guys!" Grif's voice suddenly came from the observation room. "Carolina's back!"

"¡No me importa una mierda esa perra!" Lopez snapped.

"And not only that," Grif continued, ignoring Lopez. "She's brought a friend."

"Who the fuck could that be?" Washington muttered as we all went to join Grif. "Most of the Freelancers are either dead or in hiding." When we reached the room we all peered through the opening to see Carolina talking with another Spartan.

"Who's that?" Tucker asked.

"No idea," Grif said, peering through the sniper rifle he was holding. "He's obviously a Freelancer. He's wearing lilac Mark VI armour with white highlights…" Behind me, I felt Washington stiffen. The others noticed it too.

"Wash? Do you know this guy?" Sarge asked.

"Unfortunately, I do," Washington growled as he glared at the duo out in the canyon. "That's Hawaii."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'What the fuck were you thinking? You blew up my fucking! I swear to god, I am going to fucking murder every single one of you!' 'Calm down! I'd like to see you calm down if someone destroyed your fucking shotgun! Although you'd probably just take it out on Grif, but that's not the fucking point!' 'Fuck you Simmons!' 'I don't give a shit about that bitch!'**


	6. Chapter 6

"¿Qué carajo es esto?" Lopez demanded. "¿Una especie de vieja Freelancer se reúnen?"

"What did he say?" Lambda asked. I sighed.

"Nobody knows, Lambda. We've never been able to figure it out."

"Understood," he logged off. Grif lowered his sniper rifle and looked at Washington and Sarge.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Simple," Sarge said before Washington could speak. "We'll shoot you as a decoy and then, while their attention is diverted, we come in and shoot them with my SHOTGUN!"

"Great plan Sarge, here's what we're really going to do," Washington said dryly. "We go out there and see what they want, but keep your guns trained on them at all time. Perhaps I'll shoot Hawaii, I don't know. If it's not worth it, we drive them out of the canyon or get Sarge to shoot them."

"With my SHOTGUN?" Sarge asked, hopefully. Washington nodded.

"With your shotgun. Now does everyone agree to the plan?"

"I do," I said.

"I do," Grif repeated.

"I do," Simmons piped up.

"Fuck it, why not?" Tucker shrugged.

"I love meeting new people!" Donut chirped.

"Puppies!" Caboose broke in. We took that as a 'yes'.

"Grande," Lopez muttered sarcastically. "Vamos a ir allí para reunirse con algunos Freelancers malditos. ¿Cómo vamos a salir? ¡Así es, en mi Warthogs! ¿Y lo que siempre happenes a mis jabalíes? ¡Ellos se dividen mierda no!"

* * *

Hawaii was as cocky as Washington and Texas said he was. When he saw us approaching him, he took his helmet off and smiled. Carolina also turned around and smirked. Epsilon appeared next to her and folded his arms. Looking at Hawaii, I compared him with Washington in my mind. They both had green eyes (I had inherited mine from Washington as Texas had blue eyes) but Hawaii's were incredibly intense in a really twisted kind of way whereas Washington's, although they had become hard since his implantation, were steady.

"My dear Agent Washington," Hawaii called. His voice was similar to Carolina's in that it was fucking annoying. "It's been too long since we've seen each other."

"Not long enough," Washington growled, jumping out of the Warthog. Lopez had (even more reluctantly) leant them a Warthog again. However the Blues were under threat that:

"¡Romper este y voy a venir físicamente a su cara y disparar la maldita cara! Ah, y de Tucker pene."

The rest of us said nothing and merely pointed our guns at Carolina and Hawaii

"Come now," Hawaii put his arm around Washington's shoulders as if they were best friends. "You aren't still angry at me?"

"I don't forgive easily," Washington said coldly, throwing Hawaii's arm off of himself. The other agent merely raised his eyebrow.

"Very well Washington," he said. "If that's how you want to play it."

"Why are you here?" Washington growled.

"That's our own business, Wash," Carolina interrupted.

"I'm sorry are you talking to me?" Washington turned to her. "Because only my friends call me Wash and you are most definitely not one of them." Carolina's face darkened.

"No matter," Hawaii reassured her. "Let's just get what we came for and leave." He turned, only to bump straight into the barrel of Sarge's shotgun.

"On the contrary," Washington said in the same tone as Hawaii. "You two are leaving _right now_. Otherwise, Sarge will shoot you with his shotgun."

"I've wanted to do this for so long!" Sarge growled. Hawaii stepped back with his hands raised in surrender.

"Alright, you win Washington. Strange; you've changed a lot since I last saw you."

"You have Epsilon to thank for that," Washington said coldly. The AI gulped and looked around awkwardly.

"I'm just going to log off now, you know…" he muttered and did just that.

"Come on Carolina," Hawaii led her away. We watched as they walked away up the cliff and disappeared from sight.

"If they return, don't hesitate to shoot them," Washington growled and jumped back into his Warthog. Starting the engine, Tucker drove it in the direction of Blue Base. Grif turned our Warthog and we returned to Red Base.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. I was asleep (like any _sane _person would be!) so I didn't hear the door to my bedroom open. Lambda did and somewhere with in my subconsciousness, I felt him stir. My eyes opened just a fraction and my vision was blurred. It became even more so when that asshole Hawaii yanked a sack over my head and pulled me out of bed and took me out the fucking base!

* * *

When I woke up fully, I realised immediately that I wasn't in Blood Gulch anymore. For one thing, we were moving (we were evidently in a car) and another thing, my hands were tied behind my back, my feet were tied together and that stupid sack was still over my head! Rolling onto my back I stared up at what I presumed was the sky. To my relief, I heard Lambda's voice inside my head.

_Listen carefully _he said urgently, quite different to his usual calm tone. _It appears that Carolina and Hawaii did not leave Blood Gulch as they were supposed to and instead decided to abduct you in the middle of the night. I'm afraid that I do not know where they are taking us but I have managed to get a call through to Agent Washington and Sergeant Sarge and informed them of the event. I have also placed a tracking beacon so they know where to find us._

_Thanks Lambda _I had time to whisper before the car stopped and the sack was pulled off of my head. Squinting up, I saw Hawaii looming over me, grinning like anything.

"You asshole!" I snarled and then inadvertently squeaked as he placed a finger on my lips.

"Hush now," he whispered and leant over me. Looking past his head, I saw that his legs were straddling mine and that his arms were on either side of my head.

"You know," he continued. "I do want revenge on Washington because Tex loved him not me and I see this as a win-win situation. I get my revenge on Washington and I also, essentially, get the closest thing to your mother." I shrieked as I realised what he was implying. I had never been afraid of Tucker before, but I was now beginning to get scared of Hawaii. Taking out a role of duct tape from behind his back, Hawaii smiled again.

"Now don't scream," he chided and wound a piece of the tape around my mouth and pulled the sack back over my head. I heard him walk away as I lay there, screaming my head off, with only Lambda and the thought that the Reds and my dad were coming to console me.

* * *

The next thing I knew, Hawaii picked me up, untied my feet, took me out of the car and put me down on my feet. He then began to drag me by the elbow into what seemed like a storage facility. I was aware that Carolina was nearby, talking quietly to Epsilon. Hawaii dragged me into a room and untied my hands before forcing me into a chair. He then proceeded to tie my wrists to the arms of the chair and my ankles to the legs.

_Christ, is all this because I refused to go with Carolina?_ I wondered to myself. Once Hawaii had finished, he whipped the sack off my head with a final flourish. He smirked down at me as I glared at him and muttered something about Washington and the Reds getting him for this into the tape over my mouth.

"Tsk, tsk," he cupped my chin in his hand and dipped his head closer to mine. "No need to spoil your pretty face with a nasty scowl." I jerked my head out of his grasp and he merely laughed.

"Feisty. You're definitely your mother's daughter," he studied my face more closely. Slowly he began to stroke my hair and I growled.

"Mmm, yes," he whispered in my ear. "I can definitely see both your parents in you. You have Washington's eyes and his build. However, you have your mother's hair and her personality. Your face seems to be a mixture of them both." He slowly began to twirl a strand of my hair around his finger and grinned as I squirmed away as best I could.

"Ooh, I _am _looking forward to this," he drawled and placed his hand on the top of my chest. My eyes widened and my breathing increased rapidly. Hawaii's smirk grew widened and he slowly began to caress my body…until he gave a sharp yell of pain and snatched his hand away. Looking down, I noticed that my armour had electricity flickering around the area where Hawaii's hand had been and I immediately knew who had caused it.

_Thank you Lambda _I breathed inside my head. Hawaii glowered.

"You will pay for that, AI!" he snarled. Lambda appeared next to me.

"I doubt that I will be regretting anything," he said calmly but coldly. Hawaii opened his mouth as if to speak, but at that moment Carolina walked it. Taking him to one side, she began talking rapidly to Hawaii. Church appeared in front of me. My breathing had returned to normal and I looked at him through narrow eyes. The AI shifted uncomfortably and slowly took a hand off his sniper rifle. At a warning growl from Lambda, he pretended he was stretching.

"Church, we're leaving!" Carolina called from the other side of the room. Church looked at me once.

"Sorry, it's just…you're so much like Tex," he muttered before logging off.

"What the fuck?" I muttered into the tape. Hawaii came over and looked at me warily. Fortunately, he didn't try and touch me again and walked out the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Once he had gone, I slumped into the seat. Even with Lambda whispering comforting words and reassuring me that Washington and the Reds were coming to get me back, for the first time in almost 3 years, I allowed the tears to fall out of my eyes.

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'What the fuck is this? Some sort of old Freelancer get together?' 'Great. We're going to go out there to meet up with some goddamn Freelancers. And how will we get out there? That's right, in MY Warthogs! And what always happens to my Warthogs? They get fucking broken don't they!' 'Break this one and I will physically come round to your face and shoot your fucking face off! Oh and Tucker's penis.' **


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N. Sorry that last chapter was a bit dark and sinister. For all of you who wanted Wash to get his revenge on Hawaii for all that he's done to him, I can assure you that he does. Big time.**

* * *

Hawaii kept coming back to torment me for the rest of the day. Sometimes he'd just come in, sit down and just stare at me for ages, which was creepy enough. When he'd decided that he'd had enough of playing that little game, he'd get up, twirl a bit of my hair around his finger and then leave. Other times, he'd come in and start messing with my mind by approaching me and straddling my legs. He'd then gaze into my eyes and begin caressing my legs. After about 15-20 minutes of that, he'd just go out the room, leaving me utterly terrified. When he wasn't doing either of those things, he would mess about with my body, because I looked so similar to Texas and he wanted revenge on Washington. He'd twirl my hair, caress my body and my face and teasingly trace the outline of my lips that were covered by the tape. He never seemed prepared to leave when he did that, so Lambda had to 'persuade' him. When he did that the final time, which was around nightfall, he pulled the tape off my mouth and pressed his lips to mine. Texas had told me that he had kissed her once and it was too intense and so…wrong. I now understood what she meant. Hawaii had almost literally clamped his lips on top of mine and had forced his tongue inside my mouth. It (ugh) licked my tongue and all my teeth, one by one. It was one of the worst experiences in my life. It look Lambda by surprise so there was a delayed reaction of a good 30 seconds before he caused my armour to spark so violently that when Hawaii leapt back, I could see his armour melting where he had been pressed against me. He looked down at himself and still had the nerve to smile.

"No matter," he drawled and ran his finger down my face. When he reached my mouth, I sank my teeth into his hand. Blood immediately began to flow and Hawaii was forced to yank his hand out of my mouth and swore viciously. Raising his hand, he slapped me across the face, jammed the tape back over my mouth and stalked out the door. I slumped back down into the seat and shut my eyes. I felt a very satisfying sense of accomplishment.

* * *

I slept fitfully that night. My dreams were full of Hawaii and what he wanted to do to me. When I woke eventually, I was sweating like mad. Fortunately, Lambda was there to calm me down and I begged him to send me back to sleep because it was better than facing reality at the moment. When he did, my dreams were full of gunfire, a squawk and then silence. Then, I had the feeling that someone had picked me up and was carrying me outside. I heard the mutter of voices but I couldn't identify them. I eventually felt whoever it was put me down and the sound of a car engine. I had time to think w_here the fuck are they taking me now? _before I was dead to the world.

* * *

When I woke up properly, the first thing I noticed was the tape was off my mouth and I wasn't tied up in any shape or form. The second thing was that I was leaning against someone. I could tell it was a person because their chest was moving up and down. Opening my eyes some more, I noticed the cobalt armour that the person I was leaning against was wearing.

Cobalt.

_Washington._

"Thank fuck," I breathed quietly and threw my arms around him. Immediately, he pulled me closer and clasped his arms around me. I rested my head on his chest and breathed in the comforting smell of his cologne.

"Did they hurt you?" he whispered in my ear. I shook my head and clung on tighter, never wanting to let go. I know he's a Blue but he's also my fucking dad! Curling up on his lap like a six year old, I buried my head in his shoulder and whimpered plaintively. Holding me to him with one arm, he used his other hand to gently stroke my hair. I closed my eyes again and fell asleep in Washington's arms.

* * *

When I woke up again, we were in Blood Gulch and Washington was still holding me. When the Warthog finally stopped, Washington picked me up and carried me into the base. I couldn't tell if it was Red Base or Blue Base because my face was still buried in his shoulder and my eyes were screwed shut. I heard Donut squawking, Lopez threatening him in Spanish, Simmons trying to get Grif to work, Sarge growling at Caboose who had obviously done something to piss him off and Tucker talking to Doc. I concluded that we were in Red Base because Sarge would_ never_ set foot in Blue Base. When we got to my room, Washington gently laid me down in my bed, however I refused to let go of him. I _needed _someone to hold onto. Even with Lambda gently reassuring me that I was safe, I kept my hold on Washington.

"She's been traumatised," I heard Doc telling everyone.

_No shit! _I wanted to scream. _I've just been kidnapped by two jackass Freelancers, been essentially tortured for 24 hours and was constantly under the fear that I was going to get raped because I look like Texas and she and Washington are my parents! Would _you _be ok?! _Instead, I remained silent and reluctantly let go of Washington (thanks to lots of coaxing from Lambda). I heard the others leaving and buried my head in my pillow. To my surprise, however, Washington remained in the room and began stroking my hair, whispering soothing words all the time until I eventually dropped off to sleep.

* * *

When I woke up for the fourth time, I felt fully rested and prepared to venture out of my bedroom. I was thankful for the umpteenth time that Lambda was my AI because he had somehow managed to shut out and destroy the nightmares that had come or were threatening to come. Rolling onto my back, I opened my eyes blearily and saw a splodge of dark brown sitting next to me.

"Lopez?" I croaked. It was the first thing I'd said in over 24 hours.

"No mierda Sherlock." the Spanish robot said sarcastically. I opened my eyes properly and squinted up at him.

"What happened?" I asked, even though I knew that I wouldn't be able to understand him.

"Usted no tiene que preocuparse por eso jackass, Hawaii, nada más. Washington personalmente le disparó en la cabeza." Lopez said almost cheerfully; he seemed pleased that someone had asked him a question and didn't mind that they couldn't understand the answer. "Básicamente, mientras dormías, que irrumpieron en el almacén donde le estaban celebrando. Nosotros y el Blues trabajado en desbloquear la habitación donde se guardaban, mientras que Washington y Sarge fueron tras Hawaii. Sarge lo golpeó en la cara con su escopeta y Washington se voló los sesos. Cuando finalmente nos las arreglamos para abrir la puerta (¿cuántas malditas cerraduras puede tener un tipo en una puerta?). Le salimos y te trajimos aquí."

"Uh, thanks Lopez," I muttered and swung my legs out of bed.

"¿Tú no entiendes una palabra de eso, verdad?" he called after me.

When I entered the training room, I saw that the guys were doing their daily exercises with the Warthog. When Simmons saw me, he let out a yell and they all immediately came running over.

"Are you ok?" Grif asked.

"Did that bastard hurt you?" Sarge asked gruffly. "Doc told us that he'd slapped you in the face."

"We weren't too late, were we?" Simmons said anxiously. "Basically, while you were asleep, we stormed the storage facility where they were holding you. We and the Blues worked on unlocking the room where you were being kept while Washington and Sarge went after Hawaii. Sarge whacked him in the face with his shotgun and Washington blew his brains out. When we finally managed to open the door (how many fucking locks can one guy have on a door?) we got you out and brought you back here."

"¡Sólo le dije todo eso!" Lopez snapped as he followed me into the room. "¿Espera, qué coño? ¿Ustedes idiotas no han destruido el Warthog todavía? ¡Eso tiene que ser una especie de maldito récord!"

"Yes I'm fine, no he didn't hurt me physically, just mentally and you guys weren't too late but it would have been nicer if you got here earlier," I said in answer to all their questions. At that moment, the Blues walked in. Sarge raised his shotgun with a growl but lowered it at a warning look from Lambda. I immediately ran into Washington's arms and he clasped me close to him.

"Nice to see you're up and around," he said softly.

"Thanks to Lambda," I replied.

"It seems we have a lot to thank him for," Simmons interjected.

"I was just doing my job," Lambda said modestly. "Protecting my carrier in all the ways that I can."

"You're a lot like the other AIs from Project Freelancer," Washington said. "Mostly Delta, Theta and Omega. I don't usually trust AIs because of what happened with Epsilon and what Sigma did to Maine; however I think that you've earned all our trust ten times over."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'No shit Sherlock.' 'You don't have to worry about that jackass, Hawaii, any more. Washington personally shot him in the head.' 'Basically, while you were asleep, we stormed the storage facility where they were holding you. Us and the Blues worked on unlocking the room where you were being kept while Washington and Sarge went after Hawaii. Sarge whacked him in the face with his shotgun and Washington blew his brains out. When we finally managed to open the door (how many fucking locks can one guy have on a door?) we got you out and brought you back here.' 'You didn't understand a word of that, did you?' 'I just told her all that! Wait, what the fuck? You idiots HAVEN'T destroyed the Warthog yet? That's got to be some sort of fucking record!' **


	8. Chapter 8

Teleportation training with Lambda proved to be invaluable because after the Blues had returned to Blue Base, Grif chose that moment to tease Lopez about Sheila. As we all knew, that led to him throwing vehicles at us and I had to use my armour ability numerous times.

"¡Joder te odio y me voy a matar a tu puto sueño!" he screamed at us all. Eventually, I got bored and teleported into my room. Taking my helmet off, I read to Lambda until Simmons began screeching from the observation deck.

"What the fuck is it Simmons?" Sarge growled.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, sir!" Simmons gushed. "I know that being the leader is very taxing and I think you do a great job!"

"!Cállate beso-culo y decirnos qué coño está pasando!" Lopez snapped.

"Simmons, shut the fuck up with the ass kissing and tell us what the fuck's going on!" Grif rolled his eyes.

"¡Deja de repetir todo lo que digo!" Lopez demanded.

"Fine!" Simmons said in exasperation. "It appears that Carolina still hasn't got the message."

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" I groaned.

"Hey look! The Blues are already going out to see her," Donut pointed at the three idiots running towards the Freelancer. "Shall we go too?"

"No!" we all yelled.

* * *

As it happens, we didn't need to go out to see Carolina. She came to us, closely followed by the Blues. Washington looked pissed off, Tucker looked turned on, but at the same time incredibly nervous, and Caboose looked like…Caboose.

"I demand an explanation!" Carolina snarled, pointing her Magnum at Sarge.

"I won't tell you anything, you Blue bitch!" Sarge retaliated. "And if you're gonna threaten me with a gun, then at least shoot Grif first!"

"Fuck you!" Grif yelled from the driver's seat of the Warthog. While he and I were dealing with the steering problem, Simmons walked over to us. He was holding something behind his back and when we looked over at him, he revealed it; three cans of spray paint.

"I think that we need to put Carolina in her place," he said. Grif and I looked at each other before nodding. Simmons tossed us a can each and we walked over to Carolina. I smirked when I saw the colour written on the cans.

"Agent Carolina?" Simmons called sweetly. She turned on us, her fists clenched.

"What?" she snapped aggressively. However, this didn't put Simmons off in the slightest.

"Seeing as you are the best Freelancer," he continued smoothly. "We thought that it would be best to show our, how do I put this?, _appreciation_ of your skills." Carolina thought for a second.

"Fine," she shrugged. Sarge, Donut, Lopez and the Blues watched us but decided to remain silent. Surrounding Carolina, we took the caps off and sprayed Carolina's armour from top to bottom. When we had finished, and as she was wiping the paint off her visor, we scarpered back over to the Warthog and readied our weapons.

"Well?" Carolina asked. "how do I look?" We all looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Like a really butch version of Donut," Grif chortled. Carolina gasped and looked down at herself.

"What have you done!?" she shrieked. "You've…you've painted me _pink_!"

"Actually, it's light-ish red," I corrected her, looking down at my can of paint. Carolina screamed in fury and chucked a gravity hammer at us (where the fuck did she get that from?!). The good news was it missed us. The bad news was it destroyed the Warthog closest to us, prompting a howl of rage from Lopez.

"¡Argh! ¡Voy a matarte puta para que estúpida puta de mierda! ¡Voy a utilizar sus agallas para reparar mi cableado y voy a utilizar las otras partes útiles de su cuerpo para reparar el Warthog que acaba volado! El resto se alimenta a La Meta... si todavía estaba vivo, así que tendremos que conformarnos con sólo les quema." he shrieked. Carolina turned pale and frantically tried to run out of the base before Lopez tacked her and wrestled her to the ground. As we were watching, Epsilon appeared next to me.

"Uh, I just came over to apologise," he muttered. Lambda appeared next to me and frowned at him.

"I don't know about Escopeta," he said frostily. "But I for one do not accept your apology, Epsilon."

"Right…" the AI mumbled.

"I'm not sure whether I should or not," I replied. Epsilon sighed.

"Fuck. You're so much like her," he said flatly. "Badass at fighting, doesn't forgive easily, shit like that."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well," Epsilon shifted his feet moodily. "I guess this is goodbye then." I groaned and closed my eyes.

"Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes."

"I rest my case," the AI said bitterly before logging off to rejoin Carolina, who was being relentlessly punched by Lopez screaming in Spanish at her.

* * *

I was reading to Lambda when there was a soft knock on my door. Putting the book down, I frowned slightly; nobody in Red Team knocked like that. Sarge's knocks were short and snappy (if he knocked at all), Simmons' were loud and consistent, Grif never knocked at this hour, Donut's were usually accompanied by lots of giggling and Lopez only knocked once. Calling for whoever it was to come in, I had the pleasant surprise of seeing Washington. Walking over, he came and sat down on my bed.

"Oh, hey Washington," I said, putting the book on the table next to my bed.

"Hi," he said quietly. "Sarge let me in for a little bit. I just came to say that I'm sorry we didn't check whether Carolina and Hawaii had actually left the canyon. If we had, then this wouldn't have happened…" his voice trailed off and he held his head in his hands. Nervously, I moved up next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault Washington," I said. "Nobody knew that'd happen. The main thing is that neither of them are going to attempt it again given that Hawaii had his brains blown out and Carolina is now probably too scared of Lopez to even come into Red Base." Washington gave a wry smile and for a few minutes we sat in silence before I spoke again.

"Uh, Washington?"

"Yeah?"

"I know that this is going to sound childish, but could you possibly tell me a story of what happened when you were in Project Freelancer?" I bit my lip as soon as I'd said the words, cursing myself for being so tactless; Washington probably didn't want to relive his days from Project Freelancer. To my surprise, he nodded.

"How about I tell you the time we managed to capture C.T.?"

"That sounds interesting," I said. Washington grinned and his hand slowly began to stroke my hair, which I found incredibly soothing and relaxing.

"Ok, basically, C.T. used to be an agent (her codename was Connecticut) before she joined the Insurrection. Numerous times we tried to track her down and we always seemed to fail; usually because of Carolina's jealousy getting in the way of the mission but sometimes it was because of other things. I once almost cocked a mission up because I didn't want to use my jetpack for fear of ending up like Georgia, even though the Insurrection had left a nuke behind. Anyway, your mother couldn't come with us because she was 7 months pregnant with you. Me, York, North, South, Wyoming, Maine and Carolina were following C.T. and the Insurrectionist Leader's getaway Pelican when we both entered slipspace. When we emerged, we had appeared in some sort of forest…where there was an Insurrection camp. We had to bribe Four Seven Niner into fighting with us (by promising her that we would clean her Pelican everyday for 2 months without too much complaining) because otherwise we would have got our asses owned. As it turned out, York managed to fall over a boulder, scaring the shit out of Theta and alerting the Insurrectionists that we were there. As they approached, North and Wyoming had to climb a tree so that they could snipe. During the fight, some smart-asses tried to sneak around the trees and surprise us from behind and it almost worked…until they encountered Maine. While we were fighting, Carolina kept bragging about how she was killing the most insurrectionists. She was pissing me off so much, I eventually just pushed her into the nearby lake. However, she stopped bragging and started whining. This pissed South off too so she threw a rock at her. C.T. was dodging a grenade from Maine at the time and sort of walked into the rock. It hit her on the head and she just died there and then. We were all so surprised that we didn't notice that Delta and Sigma had started a fire. The Leader and a few others escaped with C.T.'s body (and armour) and we all had to run to the Pelican before we were burned alive. Carolina had to get out of the lake on her own. When we finally got back to the Mother of Invention, South got the credit for killing C.T. which pissed off Carolina. She was even more pissed off when she walked through the door to find that some bright spark (who had tried to prank the Director) had hung a bucket of water from the ceiling which would tip when activated by a trip wire. Carolina had to have another shower."

"The other Freelancers sound pretty cool," I said when he had finished.

"Yeah," he sighed. "They were, especially York, North and Maine. But the Director took all of that away." He looked down and clenched his fists. I sat back on my heels and stifled a yawn; Lambda was already asleep. Washington looked over at me.

"I think it's time that you went to bed, what with Sarge's early morning curfews," he said, getting up. I nodded and lay down. Washington bent over me and stroked my hair.

"Night Escopeta," he said softly.

"Night dad," I replied sleepily. As my eyes were shutting, I saw him give a small smile before turning the light off and shutting the door. For a while I wondered why, before I realised that this was the first time I had called him dad.

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'I fucking hate you and I am going to murder you in your fucking sleep!' Shut up kiss-ass and tell us what the fuck's going on!' 'Stop repeating everything I say!' 'Argh! I am going to fucking kill you for that you stupid fucking whore! I'm going to use your guts to repair my wiring and I will use the other useful parts of your body to repair the Warthog that you've just blown up! The rest will be fed to The Meta...if he was still alive so we'll have to make do with just burning them.'**


	9. Chapter 9

I slept peacefully that night, with no nightmares or anything thanks to Lambda. When my alarm went off at the usual time (8 in the fucking morning!), I was actually in quite a good mood. That went away pretty quickly when the shouting reached my ears.

"Fuck's sake, what _now_?" I groaned. Lambda appeared next to me.

"Escopeta, I can confirm that one of the voices matches the vocal patterns of Sergeant Sarge," he said calmly.

"I know that Lambda," I sighed as I brushed my hair and climbed into my armour. "What I want to know is what he's shouting about _this_ time." Lambda frowned as the noise increased slightly.

"That's strange," he mused. "There are three added voices to the argument. I can confirm that two belong to Agent Washington and Private First Class Tucker."

"What are the Blues doing here?" I frowned, pulling on my helmet.

"One of the words that I can make out is…" Lambda concentrated hard. "…Shotgun."

"Oh _shit_!" I hissed and ran out the door. Entering the training room, I saw Sarge standing on top of the Warthog, brandishing his…Magnum? The Blues were hiding behind a crate with Grif, Simmons was attempting to calm Sarge down to no avail and Donut was shaking behind Lopez, who was screaming at Sarge.

"¡Fuera de mi Warthog! ¡Saber que, vas a romper mierda de nuevo!"

"What's up with Sarge?" I asked Grif, teleporting behind the crate he and the Blues were hiding behind.

"How the fuck should I know?" he snapped. "We woke up this morning and Sarge started screaming about the fact that his fucking shotgun wasn't in its bed. So who does he blame?"

"You?" I guessed.

"Me," Grif grumbled. "Then the Blues came in and Sarge went ballistic and started accusing everyone of stealing his shotgun. We've been stuck here ever since." Lambda appeared beside me, frowning.

"Sergeant Sarge's shotgun has a bed?" he asked.

"Among other things," Grif complained.

"Like what?"

"Seriously Lambda, don't get us started on the subject of Sarge's shotgun," I sighed, closing my eyes and wincing.

"Understood," my AI logged off.

"Fuck's sake, how long can he yell for?" Tucker griped, poking his head around the crate.

"Ages," Grif and I said at the same time and smirked as Tucker groaned.

"I'm going to _try _and talk to him," Washington grimaced and aimed his battle rifle at the hand that Sarge held his Magnum in. Firing, he shot the gun right out of Sarge's hand.

"You dirty Blue!" Sarge bellowed, stamping on the Warthog.

"¡Mirar el Warthog!" Lopez shrieked.

"Sir, I don't believe that the Blues, or Grif, took your shotgun," Simmons took the opportunity to desperately try and soothe him. "Why don't we check the security cameras in the hall? They'll confirm who stole it."

* * *

The thief turned out to be an old friend of ours.

"What the fuck?!" Grif yelped.

"Oh come on!" Tucker protested.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Washington growled quietly.

"I knew it was a Blue!" Sarge barked.

"Cuando me encuentro a esa perra..." Lopez let the threat hang in the air.

"Lambda, are you sure?" I asked, staring at the picture on the screen.

"Affirmative," he confirmed. Donut whimpered and hid behind Lopez again.

"I don't like the mean lady," Caboose pulled on Tucker's arm.

"None of us do Caboose," he gave the image of Carolina the middle finger.

"What is her problem with us?" Grif asked irritably. Washington sighed.

"She's still obsessing over beating Tex," he explained. "Because we've all had contact with her, she sees this as preparation, I guess. Using us as a 'warm up' before she goes onto the main event. Also," he glanced at me. "We also have a direct relative of Tex, so she will also try to use that against her."

"Ah, shit," I muttered. Sarge frowned and thought for a while before standing up straight again.

"Red Team, pack your bags," he announced. "We're going to get my shotgun back and hopefully kick a little Freelancer ass on the way!"

"What?" we all turned to him in surprise.

"¡Argh!" Lopez howled. "¡No es un viaje por carretera! ¿Odio los viajes por carretera y sabes por qué? ¡Sí, porque todo se rompe mierda! ¿Y quién tiene que arreglarlo? ¡Cogerme!"

"Yay! An adventure!" Donut cheered and everyone gave him a weird look.

"Great, the Reds are going off on another one of their stupid missions," Tucker muttered.

"Dude, _we_ always get dragged into _your _stupid missions!" Simmons snapped.

"Tucker, we're going anyway," Washington snapped.

"What?" Tucker shrieked. "No fucking way Wash! What for anyway?"

"I still need to get even with Carolina for…multiple things," Washington growled. "Plus do you trust the Reds _not _to fuck up this mission?"

"Hey!" we all snapped.

"Good point," Tucker said after a pause. "You lot probably need my awesome badass skills with my fucking awesome sword."

"We'll be glad of the help," Grif said sarcastically.

"Caboose?" Washington turned to where he was staring avidly at Lambda.

"Yes Agent Washingtub?"

"We're going on an outing and we need your help," Washington said smoothly. Credit to him, he was actually pretty good at dealing with Caboose.

"Ok Agent Washingtub!" Caboose said happily. "When we get back, can we throw a very big surprise party?"

"Sure Caboose," Washington steered him out the room, with Tucker following. We stared after them until Simmons broke the silence.

"Well it looks like the Blues are tagging after us again," he said simply.

"Heh," Sarge chuckled. "Don't you see Simmons? This is excellent! During this road trip, we can finally defeat the Blues!"

"Oh yay," Grif said drily. "This is going to be so much fucking fun," he walked out the door.

"Grif! Where d'ya think _you're _going!" Sarge barked.

"For a nap, duh," Grif turned round and glowered at him. "This is going to be a long road trip and who's going to be driving? That's right, me!" he turned back round and walked down the corridor.

"Dagnabbit, if I had my SHOTGUN, I'd shoot him right now!" Sarge growled. He turned to us. "The rest of you, go and get ready. We've got a long trip ahead of us and you need to pack. And if we break down somewhere, then don't worry! We've got Lopez to fix everything for us!"

"¡Joder, odio a todos!" Lopez snapped as we left the room.

* * *

45 minutes, we were all ready to go. Lambda had managed to find some faint heat signatures from Carolina's mongoose (she had also stolen that from the training room…which made Lopez almost blow a fuse and we all had to hide in the flag room with the door barricaded and our guns loaded) and some tyre tracks. We were also on schedule…sort of.

"Caboose, you can't bring the tank!" Tucker snapped.

"But Sheila wants to come!" Caboose whined. "Don't you, Sheila?" he asked the tank.

"Affirmative," Sheila (or F.I.L.S.S. as she was known, back in the days of Project Freelancer) chirped happily.

"You see, Tucker?" Caboose turned triumphantly to him. Tucker groaned and slapped a hand over his visor.

"Caboose, how many times to I have to tell you? You can't pick up chicks in a tank!"

"I'm just going to let that one go," Washington muttered from the driver's seat of the Blues' Warthog. We decided to remain out of it, even though it was pretty funny to watch. Sarge, Grif and Simmons were in their usual positions in the primary Warthog and I was in the shotgun seat of the secondary Warthog, with Lopez driving and Donut manning the turret (help).

"Are you dirty Blues done yet?" Sarge growled. "Because every second you waste with your bickering, that bitch gets further away with my SHOTGUN!"

"¡Y mi maldito Mongoose!" Lopez reminded him. Grif started the engine of his Warthog and the accordion music began blaring out, as usual.

"Can't you get that fucking thing fixed?" Tucker demanded as he leapt into the shotgun seat of the Blues' Warthog (Caboose was saying a tearful goodbye to Sheila).

"Ask Lopez!" Grif retaliated.

"¿Por qué diablos iba yo a arreglarlo?" Lopez asked innocently. "¡No te molesta idiotas y es una venganza por todos los Warthogs que has roto!"

"Just drive already, numbnuts," Sarge growled. Grif set off and we followed him and then the Blues (once Caboose had had to be dragged into the car).

"You know, Donut called as we were following Lambda's directions. "Seeing as we're going to be on the road for some time, why don't we play a nice game of I-Spy? I'll go first. Ok, I spy with my little eye…"

"Shut up Donut!" we all snapped.

"Something beginning with…S!" Donut continued, unfazed.

"I'll tell you what it isn't!" Sarge moaned. "My SHOTGUN! Oh, I miss it so much!"

"Oh yay. Tengo muchas ganas a este tanto," Lopez groaned.

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'Get off my Warthog! Knowing you, you'll just fucking break it again!' 'Watch the Warthog!' 'When I find that bitch...' 'Argh! Not a road trip! I hate road trips and do you know why? Yes, because everything gets fucking broken! And who has to fix it? Fucking me!' 'I fucking hate you all!' 'And my fucking Mongoose!' 'Why the fuck would I fix it? It annoys you idiots and it's payback for all the Warthogs you've broken!' 'Oh yay. I am looking forward to this so much.'**


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N. Sorry that this chapter has taken a bit longer to upload than the others but there's been lots of revision for the exams (they finished on Monday, thank god) and also writing my latest story Teams and Families get All Shook up (it's a crossover between this fanfic and my Transformers fanfic, All Shook up). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Finding Carolina was harder than any of us expected. Turns out that her sprint ability was much faster than any of her Warthogs and Epsilon can keep it up for ages. When we finally managed to corner her, she proved to us that she really hadn't learnt anything at all when it came to Lopez and blew up our spare Warthog.

"¿¡Por qué diablos hiciste eso?!" he screamed. "¿¡Qué carajo te pasa?!" Carolina tried to run again but Lambda (who seemed to have taken a real dislike to Epsilon) had grabbed her AI by the throat and was choking him. The teal bitch was distracted with trying to force the two AIs apart so she subsequently didn't see Lopez, Sarge, me and Washington running at her. Washington got there first. The two ex-Freelancers went tumbling head over heels and Washington managed to pin her down and Sarge pounced. He managed to wrench his shotgun out from under her back and walked away, cradling it like a baby. Tucker made a comment and Sarge began shooting at Grif even though he hadn't done anything except ram the door with the Warthog. Sometimes, I have no idea how Sarge's brain works.

"¡Consigue esa cosa de mis putas Warthogs!" Lopez screeched as he proceeded to try and break Carolina's arm. He managed to twist it around before her foot kicked out and sent him flying into a pillar.

"Perra real," he commented before he landed on top of Simmons, who then subsequently toppled over onto Caboose (who was just standing in the middle of the room spinning around with his arms outstretched. And the Blues call _us _insane!). Washington and Carolina grappled for a bit before Washington grew bored and punched her in the visor, knocking her unconscious. Lambda reluctantly let Epsilon go (after I had tried begging, complimenting, bribing amongst other things) and we all got back into the Warthogs. Tucker decided to comment on my ass as I climbed into the shotgun seat of the Secondary Warthog, which led to Washington whacking him on the head and we chased the Blues back to Blood Gulch.

* * *

When we had arrived back at the bases, we all went straight to bed and at four in the morning, Sarge decided to wake everyone in Red Base up.

"Sarge, what the _fuck _is this about?" Grif growled as we all gathered in the flag room. The only light there was in the room was the light emitting from Sarge's helmet.

"Shuddup Grif!" Sarge snapped. "Now listen up men and woman! The Blues should all be asleep at this time, right?"

"Al igual que cualquier persona _cuerda_ sería," Lopez muttered darkly.

"Exactly Lopez!" Sarge beamed.

"!Que te jodan!" Lopez retorted.

"What's your plan, sir?" Simmons asked eagerly.

"Kiss-ass," Grif snorted. Simmons flicked his middle finger up at him.

"Shut the fuck up Grif!" Sarge barked. "Now, as I was saying, the Blues should all be asleep right now and they won't be expecting a surprise attack, now will they?"

"I'm not sure I'm going to like this plan," I muttered and Grif and Lopez nodded.

"Aw, c'mon Escopeta, now's the perfect time to strike at them!" Sarge said jovially. "Now here's the plan. You, Grif and Simmons will infiltrate Blue Base. Lopez and I will be waiting outside. When you three have retrieved the flag, you will pass it to us. We will then return to Red Base and you lot follow after making sure that the Blues are kept completely in the dark, so to speak. And the thing to remember is that if they do happen to catch us, leave no man, woman or robot behind! Except Grif!"

"Fuck you Sarge!" Grif snapped.

"That's a brilliant plan, sir!" Simmons gushed.

"Thank you Simmons!" Sarge said proudly. "Donut, you will remain here and, er, bake cupcakes!"

"Yay!" Donut clapped his hands together.

"Bueno, yo no sé cómo vamos a llegar," Lopez folded his arms. "Porque no hay manera en la tierra que yo voy a dejar de tomar mis Warthogs."

* * *

The Primary Warthog pulled up at the entrance to Blue Base. Sarge and Lopez followed on a Mongoose. Lambda had mercifully managed to mute the radio so the accordion music didn't blare as we drove. The base was silent.

"Right troops," Sarge said in a loud whisper as we exited our vehicles. "Now's the time! Remember, if the Blues catch us, save yourselves and leave Grif!"

"I fucking hate you," Grif hissed as he, Simmons and I entered the base. Fortunately, there was some light shining in the corridor so we could navigate without bumping into things and alerting the Blues of what we were up to.

"Where's the flag?" Simmons hissed as we reached a fork. I pointed.

"Down there. Careful though; Washington's room and Doc's office are quite close to the room where it's kept." We crept down the right fork and had almost reached the flag room when Doc came round the corner, frowning over some notes that he held on a clipboard. He froze when he saw us.

"R-Reds?!" he stuttered. "What are you guys d-doing here?!" We looked at each other in alarm before Simmons darted round Doc and slammed his head into the wall. Unfortunately, the dickhead let out a loud squawk before he was knocked out cold.

"Fuck!" Grif hissed as we heard Tucker's voice further down the corridor and Washington swearing in his room and opening the door. I yanked the door to the flag room open.

"In here!" we scrambled in and Simmons shut the door. We then ran towards the crates where the flag was standing and crawled behind them. Grif then spotted a small hidey-hole at the back of them and we crawled inside. Just in time too as just as Simmons had fitted in, the door opened, the lights turned on and we heard Tucker's voice.

"What happened, Wash?"

"It appears that Doc disturbed someone or some people sneaking into the base," Washington said calmly, obviously examining the unconscious medic. "In order to remain undetected, they bashed his head against the wall, however it didn't work because as you know, he managed to shriek."

"Could it have been Carolina?" Tucker asked and a small swishing sound indicated that he had got his sword out.

"No," Washington replied. "Carolina's…preferred methods of knocking someone out usually involves clubbing them over the head with a rifle or something. this method is more…sloppy you could call it."

"Nice one Simmons," Grif hissed.

"Well I'd like to see you come up with a better way!" Simmons retaliated. We were so busy bickering, that we didn't notice that we weren't the only people in the hidey-hole until he spoke.

"Hello," Caboose said cheerfully.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Grif shrieked.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Simmons screamed at the same time, flinging himself backwards.

"FORGET THE FLAG, LET'S JUST GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I howled and kicked crates out the way. We all hurtled out of the pile, despite Washington and Tucker turning towards us in surprise (although I swear that Washington raised his eyebrow when he saw me running at him), pointing their guns at us and moving together to block the doorway. Drawing ahead slightly of Grif and Simmons, I placed my hands on Washington's and Tucker's shoulders and vaulted over them. Simmons and Grif merely barged them out the way.

"Fucking watch it!" Tucker yelled as the two Blues followed us out the room.

"Suck my dick!" Grif retaliated as we shot out the base and scrambled into the Warthog.

"What in Sam Hell?!" Sarge yelled as he and Lopez moved forwards.

"Mission aborted!" Simmons panted. "The Blues caught us."

"We're getting the fuck out of here," Grif added as he started the engine and Sarge and Lopez leapt onto their Mongoose as they heard the sounds of Washington and Tucker approaching. The accordion music began to blare, but we no longer cared. As Washington and Tucker ran out of the base, we pulled away. In his hurry (plus the Blues had thrown some grenades at us), Grif accidentally drove over a small rock and nearly unseated us.

"!Cuidadosa que Knobhead!" Lopez snapped. "!Casi se tocaban las llantas!"

* * *

When we arrived back at Red Base, Donut looked up from the cupcakes that he was baking.

"Didn't it go well?" he asked innocently.

"When I next see Doc…" Sarge let the threat hang in the air.

"Oh didn't you know?" Donut turned back to his cupcakes and began preparing the light-ish red icing. "Doc likes to research in the night. He says it's good for his alert mind during the day." We had to drag Sarge out the room to stop him from killing Donut.

* * *

**A.N.****'Why the fuck would you do that?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!' 'Get that thing away from my fucking Warthogs!' 'You actual bitch' 'Like any sane person would be' 'Screw you!' 'Well I don't know how we're going to get there because there is no way on Earth that I am letting you take my Warthogs' 'Careful you knobhead! You almost blew the tyres!' **


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N. Yay! Red vs Blue Season 11 has come out! Woooo! :D**

* * *

After we had managed to calm Sarge down and let Donut finish icing his cupcakes, we all went back to bed. I had barely changed out of my armour and pulled the bed covers over my head when I fell asleep. Despite the botched mission, Sarge let all of us sleep until 11. Well, when I say all of us…

"Private Grif! D'ya call that a press up?! Dagnabbit, my grandmother could do better than that!"

"Fuck off Sarge!"

"Esas flexiones son jodidamente patético, pero al menos no han destruido mis Warthogs por una vez…"

"Hey guys! What's all the fuss about…whoops!"

"¿¡QUÉ CARAJO?! ¡VOY A MIERDA MATAR!"

"Oh man Lopez what are you yelling about now? Oh FUCK!"

"What the fuck did we do to deserve this?!"

"I'll tell you _exactly _what you did to deserve this!"

"I'll help you sir! And I know that whatever you say will be right, as usual."

"_Simmons this is_ _not the fucking time to be a kiss-ass_!"

"Guys! This is really bad Karma! Just calm down!"

"¡Mataste a mis Warthogs!"

* * *

When I joined the rest of the guys downstairs, Lopez was glowering in a corner, muttering darkly in Spanish, Grif was sporting a black eye, Simmons was nursing a broken nose, Sarge was fussing over a scratch on his shotgun and Donut was offering everyone cupcakes. Lambda appeared over the plate and frowned at the cupcakes.

"Private Donut, if I may enquire, what is the purpose of the topping of the cupcakes being curled into elaborate swirls if it is going to be ingested within a matter of minutes after it has been presented?"

"Because it looks pretty," Donut beamed. The rest of us rolled our eyes.

"I see," Lambda said, as unruffled as always (except when it comes to Carolina and Epsilon). "I agree that the pink colour contrasts nicely with the darker brown colour of the cake itself."

"It's not pink! It's light-ish red!" Donut squawked.

"I understand," Lambda said calmly. "Information stored in data banks for use in future circumstances."

"Was that a bit of sarcasm, Lambda?" I asked, grinning, as Donut turned back to arranging the cups in the cupboard in pretty patterns.

"Possibly," Lambda said before logging off. I shook my head and walked over to the coffee machine. Pouring milk and spooning sugar into a mug, I waited for a couple of minutes until the coffee was ready. I poured it into the cup and walked over to the table, stirring the drink. Sitting down, I took a sip and looked over at the others. Sarge had put down his shotgun and he and Simmons were pouring over a map of Blue Base (Lambda had done one the other day at Sarge's request) and Grif was lounging in his seat. Reaching over, he grabbed his packet of cigarettes from the worktop and a lighter. Opening the packet, he was about to place one in his mouth when a hand grabbed the packet.

"Fucking hell Donut!" he snapped, glaring at our gay private.

"Grif," Donut gave an exaggerated sigh. "I've told you before, smoking is very bad for you!" he waggled his finger at Grif, who was glowering at him.

_That look could kill The Meta _I said to Lambda inside me head and he gave a dry chuckle.

"And if you do die from smoking," Sarge growled, drawing our attention to him. "Then it means that even though you're dead, I won't have killed you! Dagnabbit Grif, can't you do anything right?!"

"Well said sir!" Simmons gushed.

"Beso-culo," Lopez muttered.

"Fuck off Sarge!" Grif snapped at the same time. Sarge had just opened his mouth to retaliate when we heard a clanging noise and lots of muffled swear words.

_The Blues! _Sarge mouthed and raised his shotgun. We all nodded and loaded our weapons. Simmons quietly told Donut to continue cooking and shit and to talk to himself.

"Ok Simmons!" he said happily. "I'll pretend I'm talking to Leslie, my imaginary friend! She's a secretary for a big computer company but she hates her job and would much rather be a supermodel so I give her advice on how to deal with her current dilemma." We all stopped and stared at him. Donut smiled and turned back to his cooking, humming to himself.

"Ni siquiera voy a preguntar," Lopez said at last and the rest of us crept out of the room. Stopping outside the training room, we listened closely and could just make out a voice. I quietly opened the door and we all peered round.

"Now where the fuck would the Reds keep their flag?" Tucker mused before turning on his comm. "Hey Wash, I'm in Red Base. So far I've searched the weapons room, all their bedrooms and the observation deck. I'm currently in the training room with Lopez's prize Warthogs. Where would the Reds keep their flag?" Washington said something and the Blue nodded. "Ok, I'll try there. No, the Reds don't know I'm here; they were too busy arguing over Grif smoking and Donut's cupcakes…yes you heard me right… yes, I did say cupcakes…no I am not mentally ill! Ask Caboose! Right…I'm just gonna get the flag now…" he turned his comm. off and turned.

"Now," Sarge growled and kicked the door open. Tucker whirled around, drawing his sword as he did.

"Fuck!" he cursed when he saw us. Me, Grif and Simmons ran at him and tried to leap on top of him and pin him. Unfortunately, he sidestepped and elbowed Simmons in the chest, causing him to fall into me and I fell onto Grif, who fell onto the Warthog.

"!Cuidado con el Warthog!" Lopez screeched as he and Sarge began sparring with Tucker (credit to him, the Blue is actually pretty good with his sword). Grif tried to get up, only to fall on me again, and I accidentally kicked Simmons head first into the turret, which swung round…and hit Grif in between the legs.

"Mother fucker!" he howled, clasping his balls and staggering into me, just as I managed to stand up on the bonnet!

"Grif, watch it!" I shrieked as I slipped again and landed on Simmons, whacking his already damaged nose on the steering wheel.

"I can't fucking help it!" Grif groaned as he gingerly stretched his legs out in his new position on my back and I was now lying across Simmons' chest.

"Bow Chicka Bow Wow!" Tucker smirked as he sidestepped Lopez's punch and walked straight into the butt of Sarge's shotgun. "How the fuck did I not see that?" he groaned as he collapsed. We finally managed to untangle ourselves from each other and the various parts of the Warthog and walked over to join Lopez and Sarge.

"Por lo menos se las arregló para salir sin romper mierda de nuevo," Lopez said sarcastically.

"Well it looks like we've got ourselves a prisoner here, soldiers," Sarge chuckled, looking down at the unconscious Blue. "Now here's the plan. Lambda, you send a call over to Blue Base telling them we've got Tucker…"

* * *

Two hours later, we were standing in the middle of the canyon. Tucker stood in between Sarge and Lopez, his hands expertly tied behind his back (courtesy of Simmons. When Sarge had asked him where he had learnt how to do such complicated knots, Simmons proudly revealed that he had been a Boy Scout…leading me, Grif and Lopez to tease him mercilessly). Lambda had informed the Blues that we had captured Tucker and we were willing to trade him for their flag. Washington had responded with the time and place and ended with the highly original 'fuck you'. Curiously, there was no sign of Donut so we had presumed that he was painting in his room. Finally, Washington and Caboose turned up in their Warthog and climbed out so they were facing us.

"I see you've kept your part of the bargain," Washington said calmly, nodding at Tucker.

"This wouldn't have fucking happened if you'd have let me have backup!" Tucker snapped. Washington merely shrugged.

"I offered you either Doc or Caboose and you declined both, saying it would be 'better for your sexual image to be the lone wolf'," he retaliated mildly.

"Ah…" Tucker seemed lost for words. "Fuck…"

"Enough chit-chat," Sarge growled, prodding Tucker forwards. "The flag."

"Actually Sarge," Washington said with a calmness performance worthy of Lambda. "We may have something you may…prefer." He nodded at Caboose, who turned to their Warthog and jumped on the roof top.

"I found you!" he called happily.

"Oh man, Caboose," Donut chirped, sitting up from the back of the Warthog. "You are so good at this game!"

"Donut?!" Sarge gawped along with the rest of us. Washington folded his arms and inclined his head.

"Seems a fair trade? One man for the other?"

"Dagnabbit, you dirty Blue!" Sarge snarled but pushed Tucker forwards. Donut jumped out of their Warthog and skipped over to us.

"Crap, this is embarrassing," Grif muttered from the driver's seat of our primary Warthog and me and Simmons nodded from our respective positions in the shotgun seat and manning the turret.

"It's been a pleasure doing business," Washington grinned once he had finished untying Tucker. The two Blues turned and climbed back into their Warthog, started the engine and drove back to Blue Base, chuckling. We stared after them, long after they had disappeared from sight.

"Donut, you have got a lot of explaining to do," Sarge growled as we eventually turned to the moron in pink (yeah, I said pink not light-ish red! That's how pissed off we were at him!).

"Well, Leslie didn't like the advice I gave her this time," Donut said cheerfully, oblivious to the obvious anger in Sarge's voice. "So I went outside for a bit. Then Caboose came along and offered to play hide and seek! We went over to Blue Base and played there for a while. When I was hiding from Caboose, Washington came over and offered a good hiding place! So I hid there and the next thing I knew, we were here!"

For the second time in less than 24 hours, we had to drag Sarge away from Donut's throat and give his shotgun to Lopez to hide.

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'Those press ups are fucking pathetic but at least you haven't destroyed my Warthogs for once...' 'WHAT THE FUCK?! I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!' 'You killed my Warthogs!' 'Kiss-ass' 'I'm not even going to ask' 'Mind the Warthog!' 'At least you managed to get out without fucking breaking it again'**


	12. Chapter 12

"Was locking Donut in the basement really necessary?" Grif demanded when we walked into the meeting room and sat down with our hot drinks.

"Shut up Grif!" Sarge snapped. "Yes it was necessary; he prevented us from obtaining the Blues' flag!"

"Technically it was Leslie's fault for driving him out of the kitchen," Simmons muttered.

"Grif! Shut up!" Sarge bellowed. Grif held his hands up in protest.

"What the fuck?! I didn't even say anything!"

"Excuses, excuses," Sarge growled. "As punishment for insubordination, I sentence you to death by SHOTGUN!"

"Screw you!" Grif retorted, leant back in his seat and put his feet on the table.

"Grif!"

"¡Oh, por el amor de Dios! "" Lopez slammed his fist down on the table. "¿No pueden putos imbéciles centrarse en la edición actual de una vez?"

"Lopez is right," I spoke up. "We should focus on how to get the flag off the Blues without being discovered or having a man captured.

"Wow," Lopez turned to me in surprise. "Eso es ... en realidad lo que dije ... que no debería disfrutar de ella sin embargo, ya que no va a joder última."

"You're right," Sarge sat back down, pulled his helmet off and ran a hand through his hair. "We need to get that goddamn flag. Dagnabbit, all this shit with the Freelancers has got me out if practice. Grif! Why did you let this happen?!"

"How the fuck is that _my_ fault?!" Grif demanded, clenching his fists, which was a surprise to all of us because we thought that clenching fists is too much effort for someone as lazy as Grif.

* * *

Almost three hours later, Grif and I were going out to spy on the Blues. Lopez had allowed us to borrow one of the Warthogs but he had (probably) told us that if we broke it, he'd be fixing it using our guts. Grif accelerated and the Warthog slowly began to crawl up the cliff.

"Why's it taking so long?" I demanded as Grif stopped the engine and climbed out to inspect the rear wheels.

"Well the terrain doesn't exactly help," he called back. "But there doesn't appear to be any rocks stuck in the spokes…so I guess there's something wrong with the four wheel drive. I'll tell Lopez."

"He'll be pissed," I warned but let him comm. our mechanic anyway.

"Hey Lopez, we've found a problem with the 4WD," Grif said. "The Warthog is taking longer than it should to climb the cliff."

"Eh, supongo que tendré que arreglar eso ... si me da vuelta en un pedazo de mierda que es," Lopez replied.

"Uh, sure Lopez," Grif turned his comm. off and walked back round to the front of the Warthog. I put my sniper rifle on my back and jumped out.

"So I guess we're walking," I shrugged. Grif stared at me, aghast.

"Wait, _what_?!"

"Grif, it's only 40 feet."

"That's 39 more that I can manage!"

"You can manage a whole foot? Wow."

"Fuck you!"

"Washington would murder you if you did."

"Whatever. I'm still not walking up there!" Grif glared up at the cliff top.

"Fine," I sighed and turned to Lambda. "Could you teleport us both up there?"

"You would have to be holding onto Private Grif when the teleportation was in progress, but it could be done," Lambda frowned.

"Then do that, would you?" I looked at him as he nodded and logged off. Turning to Grif, I grabbed his shoulder (ignoring his protests) and activated my teleporter. A few seconds later, we were both on the flat grassy bit on top of the cliff.

"Huh, that wasn't too bad," I yawned slightly and looked at Lambda. "Shit Lambda, you look knackered."

"I'll be fine," he reassured me. "It just needs some getting used to."

"Well you'd better sleep anyway," I frowned and Lambda didn't need any more persuading. Grif was standing on the edge of the cliff, peering down and I walked over to join him.

"See anything?"

"Possibly," he frowned. "It looks like the Blues are doing some shit to that tank Caboose and Lopez are in love with. More height is needed to see exactly what's going on."

"Right," I frowned as a sudden idea came to me. "Hey Grif, step back a sec, but not too far."

"Why?" he said suspiciously but reluctantly did as I asked.

"Just trust me," I rolled my eyes, walked round behind him and placed my hands on his shoulders.

"What the fuck?!" he demanded and squawked as I leapt onto his back and hooked my legs round the area below his ribs. Instinctively, he grabbed them and tried to stop himself from falling over backwards.

"You've been eating too many of Donut's cupcakes, haven't you?" he gasped.

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for those things," I took my sniper rifle off my back and peered through it. "Right…it appears that the Blues just seem to be fixing some of Sheila's wheels that seem to have gone flat. Nothing major." I pulled my helmet off in order to get a closer look. Grif staggered forwards, overbalanced and plunged forwards. Swearing loudly, we both tumbled down the cliff. I pulled my feet forwards in an attempt to slow down as a branch swung up from a random tree and whacked Grif in the nuts.

"Fucking hell!" he howled, clasping his hands to that area, in an all-too-familiar gesture. I glanced round and another branch hit me smack in the face. Blood immediately began pouring down the right side of my face. I had time to notice Grif tumble over a fallen tree and land on a rock, crushing his balls even more, before I blacked out.

* * *

My eyelids slowly fluttered open and I peered up at the ceiling through blurred vision. My hand immediately went to my forehead and I winced as I gently ran my fingertip along the scratch that I had managed to obtain. Gradually, my vision cleared and I could see the white sterile walls of a medical room and the bright lights above me. I slowly sat up and looked around but there was no sign of Grif. Rubbing my neck gently, to see if Lambda's AI chip was still intact (it was, thank god) and I looked down to see that I wasn't wearing my armour. Instead I was in…_blue civvies_!

"What the fuck?!" I said aloud and felt Lambda stir slightly. Evidently, the double teleportation had tired him out more than he had let on. Swinging my legs over the berth, intending to climb off, I quickly lay back down as the door opened.

"You have really got to stop getting into these situations," Washington said, not unkindly, as he walked over and brushed a strand of my hair, still slightly sticky with blood, off my face.

"What can I say?" I sat back up and tucked the strand behind my ear. "First thing's first: where's Grif?"

"Oh, he's in the training room," Washington replied. "We've just come back from contacting Sarge. Strange, he seemed very reluctant to trade some spare mechanical parts for Grif."

"This is _Sarge _and _Grif _we're talking about. Are you really surprised? And what about me?!"

"Right…that," Washington bit his lip and knelt down so he was eye-to-eye with me. "Look, when we found you two, Grif was rolling about, clutching his balls and you were lying in a very scary pool of blood. It may have only been a small cut, but you still lost a lot. Doc says that you're in no fit condition to travel to Red Base."

"Wait, wait, wait, _what_?!" I could hardly believe my ears and my breathing began to increase rapidly. "You mean…I can't go back to Red Base? Back to my team?" Washington rose slightly and pulled me closer to him in a hug.

"Not for the time being," he whispered. I felt all the colour drain from my face as I stared into Washington's armour. This couldn't be happening…I was fine! I could totally return to Red Base… back to Sarge's yelling, Simmons' orderliness, Donut's cupcakes (which I have a definite weakness for), Lopez's protectiveness and Grif being a ready source of comedy…but I knew I couldn't, at least not for now. I stifled a sob and buried my face in Washington's shoulder. He soothed my quietly and stroked my hair as I cried. _At least Grif is here for a bit_, I kept telling myself. Washington picked me up and carried me out the medical room. He walked down the corridor for a bit before he opened another door, carried me inside, shut the door behind me and laid me down on the bed. I unattached myself and saw that we were in his room. Hiccupping slightly, I wiped the water off my face and instantly saw a picture on Washington's bedside cabinet. Picking it up, I frowned at the woman in it. She was wearing black Mark VI armour and was holding her helmet down by her hips. She looked incredibly familiar…

"Is this Texas?" I looked up at Washington.

"Yep," he smiled slightly and moved closer to me. "When I was hospitalized after Epsilon terminated, I managed to steal this from the files. You're probably sick of hearing this, but you two are almost identical."

"This is like Harry Potter," I commented as I stared down at Texas. I slowly moved my hand over the photograph. I looked at Texas' lips and ran my finger over my own. A strand of my black hair was lying on Texas' own black hair. So it seemed that Hawaii, Carolina, Washington and Epsilon were right; I was almost identical to Texas. I looked at my green eyes that were reflected in the glass of the photo frame and then looked at the identical green ones that were looking directly at me.

"You were born with that colour eyes you know," Washington said softly, reaching over and placed his hand on my shoulder. "When you were still on the _Mother of Invention_, everyone used to comment on your eyes and how similar they were to mine. It pissed the Director off to no end; seeing as he wanted those green eyes to resemble his, not mine. It also creeped out Carolina, which was immensely satisfying."

"So, I caused quite a stir then," I gave a wry smile as I unconsciously rubbed the back of my neck.

"That's one way of putting it," Washington replied. "But that was only to certain people. The rest of us didn't see you like that…I know for a fact that when she was around you, South was far less cranky and the AI (none more so that Omega) saw you as almost their little sister." I sighed and leant my head on his shoulder. We had to pull away suddenly as we heard lots of swearing coming from some other part of Blue Base.

"I'd better deal with that," Washington ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be back in a sec." He kissed the side of my head and ran out the room. I allowed myself a small smile and lay back down on the bed, looking into the blue eyes of Texas.

* * *

**A.N. 'Oh for fuck's sake! Can't you fucking morons focus on the current issue for once' 'Wow. That's...actually what I said...I shouldn't enjoy it though because it's not going to fucking last' 'Huh, guess I'll have to fix that...if I get it back in one fucking piece that is' **


	13. Chapter 13

When I woke up the next morning, I frowned at the unfamiliar surroundings before I remembered that I was in Blue Base because I was currently too weak to return to Red Base. I groaned and rubbed my right temple, causing sharp stabs of pain to run across my forehead. Lambda was still asleep so I sat up to assess my surroundings. As I looked around, I saw the picture of Texas on the table next to the bed and I realised that I was still in Washington's room. Rolling over, I looked down and saw Washington himself asleep on a mattress. I immediately felt a pang of guilt as well as gratitude; as this was his room and his base, Washington had the right to claim his bed, but he had instead allowed me to sleep in it. One more thing I owed him. As I lay there, musing, Washington stirred and sat up.

"I see you're awake. Did you sleep ok?"

"Yeah, thanks. You know, you didn't have to let me have the bed. This is your room after all."

"Yeah but still," Washington stood up and sat next to me. I moved closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and used his other hand to stroke (and flatten) my hair.

"Is Grif still here or was he transferred back to Red Base?" I asked.

"It took a lot of persuading but we managed to get Sarge to make the trade," Washington replied. I gave a wry smile as I imagined the scene. Knowing Sarge, there were probably numerous shotgun threats. I sighed as I remembered that I was incapacitated at Blue Base for the time being.

"Look, I know that Doc is a bit of a twat, but he usually knows what he's talking about when it comes to medical things," Washington said, as if he had read my mind.

"I can probably walk fine," I argued, swinging my legs out of the bed and tentatively resting my feet on the floor. I took a deep breath and put my weight on them, although the effort made me nearly black out. I took a step towards the door before I staggered and Washington caught me before I hit the floor.

"Or maybe not," I muttered.

"I'd go with the second one," Washington said dryly, sitting back on the bed, with me still curled up on his lap.

"Yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck and felt Lambda stirring. "Took you long enough," I grumbled when my AI finally decided to appear.

"I apologise for any inconveniences, but it appeared that the double teleportation was more taxing that I originally assumed," Lambda replied in his calm tone.

"Fine. You're forgiven, I guess," I scowled and Washington gave a soft laugh.

"You really are your mother's daughter," he told me as I rested my head on his shoulder again.

"Great," I complained, causing him to laugh again. "How are we similar?"

"You're both very stubborn," he teased. "If Tex wanted to do something then she would do it, regardless of what anyone else (except Omega) said. Hell, if she wanted to blow up the Mother of Invention, then she would do it."

"Blowing up ships is one of my hobbies," I said and he tickled me under the chin in retaliation, causing me to involuntarily shriek and I almost fell to the floor again.

"Can't have you doing that," Washington grinned as he caught me again.

"It was your fault!" I protested. He merely raised his eyebrow and pulled me closer to him. Curling up on his lap, I placed my head in between his head and his shoulder and he gently rested his own head on top of mine. As we embraced, I couldn't help feeling pissed off that the Director had deprived me of eighteen years of time with my parents, and also some of their freelancer friends. Hell, I might have even got to know Maine before he turned into The Meta and terrorised the Reds and Blues.

* * *

Washington adjusted the antennae on the TV so that we could actually get a signal. When he was satisfied, he turned on the DVD player and slotted the disk in when the little disk-holder-thingy popped out. Pushing it back in, he walked over and sat down next to be on the bed as the mechanics inside the DVD player began whirring and the film began to play. Despite living in the most technologically advanced universe ever, of all time, there were still adverts before the actual film began and even worse, they were the ones that you can't skip through. I complained lustily about this to Washington as the annoying little buggers were playing. Instead of being like the Reds (Sarge would shoot the DVD with his shotgun, Simmons would rattle off a load of instructions that nobody actually understands, Grif is too lazy to do anything about it, Donut would just giggle and make you watch them anyway and Lopez doesn't even watch films), Washington actually listened and reassured me that they would only last for about five minutes (now why can't the Reds do that?! I'm kidding, I love them to bits the way they all are).

"So how did you get this film?" I asked as I rested my head on Washington's chest.

"Oh, Caboose collects DVDs so we just borrow whichever film we want off him," he replied. "Tucker also collects DVDs but they are of a much different genre.."

"I can imagine," I shuddered at the thought of Tucker's...collection of DVDs. "With the Reds, we just order them online and then send Grif to pick them up. Don't tell anyone I said this, but Sarge secretly loves the 'Honeward Bound' films, Simmons adores superhero films, Grif watches all the Lassie films, Donut is seriously into Disney films and Lopez is a sucker for Spanish romances."

"I'll keep that in mind," Washington grinned.

"Did, er, you and Texas watch any films together?" I asked tentatively, promising to kick myself as hard as I could if I made him upset or nostalgic. Instead, he gave a soft smile.

"A couple," he replied, stroking my hair as he talked. "The Director wasn't aware of this, but often we'd all go into whoever's room was allocated for it and watch a film. When me and Tex got together and she was pregnant with you, we'd also watch a film in her room, usually ones with lots of car chases and guns but also the occasional romance and the more frequent horror film to satisfy Omega."

"Cool," I replied and turned to where the actual film had _finally_ started to play!

* * *

After the film finished, Washington and I talked for a bit; he told me some old tales from Project Freelanced and I related some of the best times I've ever had with the Reds.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry that you can't go back to Red Base for now," Washington said once I'd finished telling him the story about Donut deciding to paint the Warthogs light-ish red, causing Lopez to blow a fuse and Sarge, Grif, Simmons and I had to hide in the kitchen, armed with nothing but our guns (low on ammo, as let usual thanks to Grif and his lazy-ass ways) and the blunt knives in the crockery drawer (only Donut has access to the sharp knives in the locked cupboard and because he was currently having Warthogs, Mongooses and the occasional gravity hammer thrown at him by a furious Spanish robot, we were kinda screwed). I shrugged.

"It's fine; I can always contact them via the comm. if necessary."

"Yep," Washington was absently playing with my hair; probably the same as he used to do to Texas. "I guess that's true."

"Anyway, they're only across the canyon," I continued. "So not too far away."

"Unlike us when we had to leave you at the orphanage," Washington said quietly. I immediately bit my lip and cursed myself for being so tactless.

"That was the Director's fault, not yours or Texas'," I mumbled. Washington sighed and looked over at the picture of Texas on the bedside cabinet. I took it down and we both stared at her for several minutes. A sharp knock at the door caused us to both look up and I returned the picture back to it's original position. The door opened and Tucker entered.

"Hey Wash, I know that we've all kinda had today off but it seems that the Reds don't agree. They've started bombarding us with this big-ass catapult or some shit like that."

"A catapult?" Washington frowned. "Where the fuck did they get that from? Catapults haven't been heard of for years."

"Oh yeah," I said mildly. "That was one of Sarge's 'ideas' a couple of months ago and Simmons and Lopez (mainly Lopez) have been working on it for ages. I would have told you but then I would have had to kill you."


	14. Chapter 14

"A catapult?" Tucker stared at me. "You're telling me that Sarge got Lopez and Simmons to build a fucking catapult?!"

"Yep," I lay back down on the bed and put my hands behind my head.

"Well that's just fucking great," Tucker began as there was a huge crashing sound and the noises of Sarge and Simmons swearing viciously reached our ears.

"Not my fault..." Caboose protested. "...Tucker did it."

"What the fuck?!" Tucker shrieked, running outside. "It wasn't me dumbass, I was inside the whole fucking time!"

"Tucker said it," Caboose amended.

"I can't fucking go on like this any fucking longer!" Tucker howled as we heard the sound of the Reds beating a hasty retreat.

"We'll that was random," Washington muttered, walking back over to sit by me.

"Yep," I said again, twirling a bit of my hair around my finger. Washington got up to shut the door and then came back to the bed. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to Tucker, Caboose and Doc bickering. Washington slowly moved his leg back and forth and accidentally knocked his bedside cabinet over.

"Oh shit!" he cursed, leaping up and hauling it upright again. "Stay on the bed," he ordered me when he saw that I had swung my legs over in order to help him.

"Fine," I scowled and lay back down, hating the feeling of being too weak to stand up or do anything. As Washington put everything back, and I had a chat with Lambda about how music calms people down, he gave a noise of surprise and picked up a leather book.

"I'd forgotten I had this," he said, finishing putting everything away and coming back to sit on the bed. I sat up and crawled next to him.

"What is it?"

"Old photo album of Project Freelancer," he replied. "I remember Florida put this together, with the help of F.I.L.S.S., and then gave it to me when I was hospitalised after Epsilon terminated." He opened the album at the first page. On it was written 'Memories of Project Freelancer' in copperplate writing and underneath it was a picture of all the Freelancers in the project.

"There's Carolina," I said, pointing out the infamous greenish-blue armour and scowled. Washington scowled too.

"Bitch," he muttered, moving his finger over the photo. "There's York," he said, resting it on a tan and white Freelancer.

"Hey, those two are dressed in almost identical armour," I pointed at two Freelancers who were dressed in darker and lighter shades of purple and green.

"Oh yeah, that's North and South Dakota, the twins," Washington replied. "North is the darker one and South is the lighter one."

"Which one was more of a jackass?" I asked, promoting a laugh from him.

"South definitely. After you had been born, she became a lot less cranky but the Director's point blank refusal to give her an AI made her twisted and bitter."

"Christ, he was a twat," I muttered. "Hey, is that The Meta?" I rested my finger on a Freelancer wearing white and orange EVA armour.

"When he was still Agent Maine," Washington said sadly. "He later changed his secondary colour to brown when Sigma corrupted him...there's Wyoming," he pointed at a silver Freelancer.

"Is that you?" I asked, looking at a Freelancer in grey and yellow armour.

"Yep," Washington grinned. "I changed to this colour when we faked my death and I became Blue Team's leader. And right there," he tapped a figure in black armour. "Is your mother."

"Wow," I stared down at Texas and turned the page. Washington and I browsed through all the pictures of the Freelancers eating, training, relaxing, talking with their AIs and each other.

"Look who it is," Washington paused on a picture of the top 8 Freelancers (minus Carolina) sitting on a couch with their helmets off, talking to each other. On her lap, Texas had a baby with scruffy black hair and big green eyes.

"...Is that really what I looked like when I was a baby?" I demanded.

_You're adorable_ Lambda whispered in my mind.

_Fuck off Lambda_ I retaliated and he gave a chuckle.

"Yep," Washington smiled as he looked down at the picture. I scowled, which only made him laugh more. We flicked through the next couple of pages when Caboose came running into the room.

"Agent Washingtub! Tucker's being mean!" he whined.

"Not fucking true!" Tucker's voice snapped from down the corridor.

_Holy crap, they're worse than the Reds_ I commented to Lambda in my head and he laughed.

"Alright Caboose, I'll be right there," Washington said wearily, standing up.

"Can I finish looking through this?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied as he and Caboose exited the room.

"Bye Escalator!" Caboose chirped as the door shut. I settled myself back down on the bed and turned the page of the album. The photo there was of the top 8 Freelancers, their AIs and me again (but still no Carolina) in the rec. room. I frowned at the surrounding, it seeming strangely familiar...

* * *

_I'm being carried in my mother's arms. I nestle my head in her black chest armour and hear her heart beating. Next to her, my father is walking along with long strides in his grey and yellow armour. I give a giggle at the two funny colours and I hear my mother laugh as well. We all stop and she bends over me, her stormy blue eyes meeting mine and her jet black hair falling over my shoulders. I give a small squeal of delight and try to grab it with my chubby hands. She gives a soft laugh and strokes the top of my head. A glowing man appears next to me, in a greyish/silver light, slightly tinged with purple. I reach out to grab him but he disappears as my father picks me up himself. We continue walking and I paw at my father's close-cropped blonde hair. When we go through a door, I immediately hear the chatter of voices and we walk over to where 5 more are sitting. When we sit down, I look at the silent man with the shiny head. He takes his shininess off and I see his warm brown eyes. I reach over and grab his thumb and he gives a low chuckle. My mother's glowing man appears next to me again and so do the others' glowing men. The gold and white one and the silver one are both talking to my father and the light purple and green one and the dark purple and green one are talking to my mother. I look at the glowing men around me and give a short laugh of delight._

* * *

I jerked up again, gasping. Lambda was hovering in front of me, looking concerned.

"Escopeta, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I rasped and then coughed. "Lambda, did you see that too? The whole entering the room thing and the AIs?"

"Affirmative," he replied. "However, I believe that it's not cause for alarm but you were merely experiencing a sudden memory flash."

"I didn't even know that you could experience those, especially when you're as young as I was," I frowned.

"It is uncommon but not unheard of," Lambda said calmly.

"Good," I said as voices were heard outside the door. The door itself opened and Grif and Simmons walked in.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked ecstatically.

"Visiting you, duh," Grif rolled his eyes as they walked over and sat on the bed next to me.

"We wanted to check on your condition so we know when you'll be able to return to Red Base," Simmons explained.

"Well Doc hasn't given me a release date yet so I have no idea," I said. "Sorry guys."

"By the way, Sarge says that he hopes you get better soon so that you can help him kill Grif," Simmons continued and Grif scowled. "Donut says that he promises to make you cupcakes when you get back and Lopez said...something."

"Thanks guys," I grinned but also felt a slight pang at how much I missed the Reds. Washington was amazing company, but I still missed the team that took me in from the orphanage, raised me in the ways of the military and also (essentially) introduced me to my dad and figured out who my family was.

"How's the balls?" I asked Grif, quickly changing the subject.

"Still sore," he grumbled. "Did you know I broke three bones in them? Three! And Sarge still made me drive back to Red Base!"

"Ouch," Lambda muttered in sympathy.

"Oh wait, that reminds me," Simmons bent down and picked up a parcel on the floor. "A little get-well present from all of us." I took it from him and ripped open the cardboard. Onto my lap fell a DVD of my favourite series ever, of all time; Hawaii Five-0.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked in delight. "I love you guys!" I flung my arms around their necks and pulled them close. I picked the DVD back up and stared hungrily into Steve McGarrett's eyes. My hand slowly ran over the letters that spelt the name of the TV show and then over the pictures of Danny, Chin Ho and Kono.

"You guys are the best!"

* * *

**A.N. Sorry about the Hawaii Five-0 thing, I just had to! I love that program so much! I can't believe that it's finished in the UK and I have to wait until next year until I can watch it again! DX**


	15. Chapter 15

**A.N. WARNING: These next couple of chapters will contain a lot of Hawaii Five-0. Yeah, I guess this chapter and the next couple of chapters are a kind of crossover but I'm sorry; I just miss Hawaii Five-0 so much! And now Russell Howard's Good News has finished for the season too! DX Oh well, at least Mock the Week and Red vs Blue are still going...and if I have to suffer then my OCs must not! Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I could not help snorting in laughter when Steve McGarrett opened the hotel door and was greeted by the sight of Lori and Danny handcuffed together.

"_What's with the, uh...the handcuffs_?"

"_Oh, uh_," Lori seemed lost for words. "_Danny was just showing me the, uh..._"

"_The Jersey Slip_," Danny finished for her.

"_Jersey Slip_?" McGarrett raised an eyebrow while Joe White stiffed a laugh.

"_The hood rat cuff slip_," Danny scowled at him. "_All the kids are doing it back east. So thought I'd show her."_

"Y_eah, and um we_," Lori cleared her throat. "_Lost the key somewhere. I think it's in the couch..._" she trailed off and looked at Danny. I was lying on my front on Washington's bed, gazing hungrily into the screen, sniggering at the appropriate moments. I down right howled with laughter at the look on Danny's face when Joe suggested they should shoot the handcuffs off. Washington came in as Five-0 were raiding Bridget's apartment and had come face to face with Captain Fryer who was in the middle of his own investigation.

"That good, huh?"

"I fucking _love_ this program!" I practically squealed, pausing it and turning round to face him.

"I can tell," he smiled, coming over and sitting next to me. "You've been watching it for five hours straight." I sighed and pressed the eject button on the remote. The disk popped out and I slotted it back into its case before getting into the bed.

"You're good," Washington raised his eyebrow in amusement as he walked over and knelt down beside me.

"I picked it up from Donut," I replied, feeling Lambda fall asleep as I spoke.

"Well I guess that's one thing he got right," Washington grinned and lightly pressed his lips to my forehead. "Night," he called, turning out the light and exiting through the door.

"Night," I replied sleepily, staring at the Hawaii Five-0 DVD until my eyelids flickered shut.

* * *

"Here we go lady and gentlemen. One fried sweet and sour shrimp platter," Kamekona waltzed over to our table with the said platter held aloft. The entire Blood Gulch Red Team (along with myself) was sitting by the beach and looked up as Kamekona approached.

"Excellent!" Sarge barked, rubbing his hands together in delight. "Now all that's left is to kill Grif and dig in!"

"No no my friend," Kamekona shook his finger at Sarge. "You can't go stirring up hate within your hui'ao'ao. It creates the bad vibes if you know what I'm sayin'."

"Er, no," Sarge muttered. Before Kamekona could continue, though, an irritated voice drifted across from the shrimp truck.

"Hey Kamekona, are you done? Cos Steve was supposed to buy lunch but as usual, he's forgotten his wallet!" Slowly, we all turned to see none other than Danny 'Danno' Williams and Steve McGarrett standing by the shrimp truck. Behind them were Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua, both looking incredibly amused.

"Forgotten...? Danny, it was stolen by some guy in pink!" McGarrett protested.

"Oh sure, like some moron in pink is going to steal a cop's wallet!" Danny was unconvinced. "You know Steve, you've really got to work on your excuses." Slowly, we all turned back and glared at Donut.

"But it had such a pretty pattern on it!" he whined. "I just wanted to draw it so I could sew it for my tapestry collection later but he'd already left."

"You actual twat Donut," Grif groaned.

"I saw him Danny!" McGarrett yelled. "I'd just put my wallet down when this flash of pink walked by me and my wallet was gone!" Unable to contain himself any longer, Donut burst out

"It's not pink! It's lightish red!"

"Donut, shut up!" Simmons snapped but Five-0 had already heard. McGarrett stalked over, his face like thunder, with Danny, Chin and Kono scurrying after him.

"_You_ took my wallet?" McGarrett demanded.

"I wanted to copy the pattern and sew it for my tapestry collection!" Donut beamed.

"Oh," I began.

"My," Simmons and Grif said simultaneously and then glared at each other.

"Dios," Lopez finished as we all rolled our eyes.

"A _tapestry collection_?" McGarrett could hardly believe his ears. "Are you serious?!"

"Unfortunately," Sarge growled.

"...is he gay?" Danny looked at Donut.

"No!" he squawked indignantly.

"Well, they do say that pink is a manly colour," Chin spoke up.

"_Lightish red_!" Donut shrieked.

"Donut, you are totally fucking gay," an all-too-familiar voice reached our ears. "Whereas _I_ on the other hand, am not," Tucker sidled up to Kono and grinned at her. "Plus I'm single, and I've always wanted to get on the right side of the law. Bow Chicka Bow Wow!"

"What are you doing here, ya dirty Blue?!" Sarge snarled, raising his shotgun. The rest of us looked up to see Washington and Caboose leaning against another table. Washington looked annoyed at Tucker's antics while Caboose looked indifferent. Kono smiled at Tucker and smashed her foot into his balls. As he howled in pain and doubled over, she uppercut him and sent him flying into another table. The men all winced, especially Grif.

"Sorry," Kono glared at Tucker. "But I'm not single."

"Why does everyone always fucking target my balls?" Tucker moaned in pain.

"Dude, you've had it easy with the whole bashing balls shit," Grif raised his eyebrow. "I on the other hand have been there too many times, thanks to Tex."

"We'll it obviously runs in the family," Tucker glared at me. I merely shrugged and was rewarded with the middle finger.

"Is it always like this?" Danny asked Lopez.

"Si," our Spanish robot replied. "Siempre. Cada maldito día ... espera un minuto," he looked at Danny's blank expression. "¿¡No se puede joder entenderme bien verdad?! Mierda."

"Uh huh..." Danny trailed off and glanced anxiously at us and the Blues. We all shrugged as McGarrett's phone began to ring.

"Hold on a minute," he growled, pressing the answer button. "McGarrett...right. We're on our way."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'God' 'Yep. Always. Every single fucking day...wait a minute. You can't fucking understand me either can you?! Shit.'**


	16. Chapter 16

McGarrett put his phone away and turned to the rest of Five-0.

"We've got a body," he told them and then turned to us. "And because I still have to deal with you lot, I guess you have to come with us."

"Wait, what?" Washington turned sharply to him.

"I'm not going anywhere with Blues!" Sarge snarled.

"You have no choice in the matter," McGarrett said calmly as Chin, Kono and Danny walked to their cars.

"Hey guys!" Donut chirped. "Look! I can do a one-handed handstand on this table!"

"What the fuck?!" Simmons folded his arms as Donut did just that...and then promptly slipped, knocking me, Simmons and Grif off the bench onto the beach.

"Oops," he giggled. "My bad!"

"Donut, you twat!" I snapped as we tried to get up, but it was pretty hard because Simmons was on top of me and I was on top of Grif.

"Ow," Grif groaned as we all tried to shove each other off of ourselves but only succeeded in getting into a more difficult position.

"For crying out loud," McGarrett sighed and waded into our mass of struggling limbs as the Blues, Sarge, Lopez and Donut just watched (thanks a lot guys!). McGarrett strode forwards, moved some limbs out of the way and picked me up by the stomach.

"Get off!" I snarled, writhing in his strong grasp. "This is fucking harassment!" McGarrett ignored my protests at being picked up and slung me over his shoulder as Grif and Simmons untangled themselves from each other. I was screaming and pounding my fists on McGarrett's back but he didn't seem affected by it.

"Right," he said. "You lot in blue armour, ride with Chin. You three in red, brown and pink armour ride with Kono. And these three," he gestured to me, Grif and Simmons. "Will go in the Camaro with me and Danny. Now get moving before too much forensic evidence is destroyed." The others grumbled but went over to their allocated Five-0 members while McGarrett (_still_ carrying me, I might add) pushed Grif and Simmons to where Danny was waiting by the Camaro.

* * *

As usual, McGarrett drove, with Danny in the shotgun seat and Grif, then me, then Simmons cramped in the back.

"Simmons, this is your fault!" Grif snapped.

"What the-?! How the fuck is it _my_ fault?!" Simmons demanded.

"You should have been fucking keeping a closer eye on Donut!" Grif retorted.

"Well how the fuck was I to know that he'd steal a wallet?!" Simmons snapped.

"Can you lot shut up?!" Danny yelled.

"Stay out of this!" Grif and Simmons snarled at the same time.

"Well given that it was my wallet that was stolen..." McGarrett began before Grif cut him off.

"You don't even know the idiot! And it's Simmons' fault!"

"Let's settle this with an arm wrestle!" Simmons decided. "If I win, it's Donut's fault. If you win, it's my fault!"

"Deal!" Grif placed his arm down and Simmons followed suit.

"And I thought you were bad," McGarrett turned to Danny.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Danny demanded indignantly.

_Er, Lambda? You there? I kinda need you to calm everyone down..._ I said inside my head but a faint snore was my answer. _Screw you Lambda._ Simmons gave a final heave and Grif's arm was forced down.

"See! It was Donut's fault!" he panted.

"Whatever," Grif retorted.

"Uh, are you two aware of where you put your hands down?" McGarrett spoke up again.

"What d'you mean...?" Simmons began as we all looked down and our eyes widened. At that moment, Chin's car drove past, the one with Washington in. Grif and Simmons gulped as we stared down at their two interlocked fists that had been brought down dangerously near my, _ahem_, woman area.

"Oh shit," Grif gulped again.

"Not a word of this to Washington!" Simmons leant forwards and glared at McGarrett and Danny, who were trying not to smirk. "He _cannot_ find out or we're dead meat."

"I have a feeling that he already knows," I said, staring after Chin's car.

"Oh shit," Grif said again. "We're screwed."

* * *

"So what've we got on our vic, Max?" McGarrett asked when we had eventually reached the crime scene.

"Our victim is a male in mid to late twenties," Dr Max Burghman explained as we were forced to follow Five-0 to the body. "The most obvious cause of death is a gunshot wound in between the shoulder blades but signs of blunt force trauma on the victim's head and arms indicate that there was a struggle."

"Ok, have we got and ID on this guy yet?" Danny asked.

"Not yet," Max replied as the body came into view. "Fortunately, HPD are running facial recognition at this-"

"Oh, it's Church," Caboose cut him off when we had full view of the body.

"What?!" Five-0 and Max turned to us.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Chin asked.

"Oh yeah," Tucker shrugged. "He's called Leonard Church."

"Old leader of the Blood Gulch Blue Team," Washington inclined his head and Grif and Simmons began edging away from him.

"He's also a computer program from a military project that was tortured into splitting off bits of his personality as fragments that were harvested and he was then transferred to Blue Team," Caboose said happily. Five-0 and Max looked at him like he was crazy.

"Personality fragments?" Kono began.

"Yeah!" Donut piped up, ignoring all our glares. "Like Lambda!"

"Donut, shut up!" Sarge growled as Donut turned to me.

"Where is Lambda?" he asked cheerfully.

"Stupid AI's dead to the world," I scowled.

"I resent that remark," Lambda said calmly, appearing next to my head. Five-0 leapt back, almost landing on Church's body, and stared at Lambda.

"Uh, Lambda?" I muttered. "I think it's best if you logged off." Lambda nodded once and complied.

"What was that?" Danny choked.

"Lambda, the calmness fragment," Simmons replied. "Only why he only chooses _now_ to show up I don't know. It would have been more useful if he'd have shown up in the car earlier and prevented the _incident_ from happening."

"What incident?" Washington said sharply. Grif, Simmons and I all jumped.

"Incident? What incident? There was no incident!" Grif squeaked as we all tried (and failed) to give innocent smiles. Washington slowly walked round behind us and hooked his arms round Grif's and Simmons' necks, pulling them together.

"I would really recommend that you tell me what happened in the car," he said calmly but dangerously.

"Don't," I said and jabbed my finger at Tucker. "You'll just set him off with a 'bow chicka bow wow'."

"What is this 'bow chicka bow wow'?" Max asked.

"Don't ask," Sarge growled and Lopez folded his arms and nodded.

"Well it must be something to do with you two having an arm wrestle and ending it near her 'area'," McGarrett pointed out.

"_Dude_!" I said, aghast.

"_WHAT?_!" Washington yelled, glaring at Grif and Simmons. They both let out very 'manly' screams and ran away from Washington, who was chasing them furiously.

"No creo que he visto nunca Grif movimiento tan rápido," Lopez mused.

"Great," I scowled. "Fucking great."

"Why is that guy so protective of you anyway?" Chin asked.

"He's my dad," I replied, my shoulders slumped.

"Well I can understand why he's doing what he's doing because I can honestly say that if someone did something like that to my daughter, I would hunt them down and rip them to pieces," Danny said bluntly. I turned and glared at him.

"You're not helping!"

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translation: 'I don't think I've ever seen Grif move that fast.' For those of you who are wondering why Escopeta objected to Steve McGarrett picking her up is that she doesn't like being carried (unless it's Wash doing the carrying) because of a previous encounter in one of her orphanages when she was picked up in that manner by a matron and locked in her room after she'd poured water down a boy's pants when he annoyed her by constantly flirting with her**


	17. Chapter 17

As Washington chased Grif and Simmons around the crime scene, we all examined Church's body.

"D'you think the Blue's finally dead?" Sarge demanded, resisting the urge to kick the corpse.

"I dunno, it's hard to tell with Church," Tucker shrugged. "Maybe we should double check somehow?"

"What d'you mean double check?! The guy's clearly dead!" Danny interrupted.

"Dude, would you count being shot through the head, having a bomb put in your gut, being killed by your own tank and things like that to be 'dead'?" Tucker turned to him and the rest of Five-0.

"Well, yeah obviously," McGarrett looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Church has survived all of those," Tucker inclined his head.

"What?! How is that possible?!" Chin demanded.

"He's one of those AI things," Sarge growled. "Those things aren't easy to kill."

"It's a talent," Lambda piped up.

"Is 'talent" the right word?" Kono looked at him apprehensively.

"Anyway, I have performed the basic medical scans on Leonard Church and he appears to be quite dead," Max said in a business-like tone.

"I wouldn't count on that!" Donut giggled.

"CHURCH!" Caboose yelled in Church's ear. "CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT'S CABOOSE, YOUR ALL TIME BEST FRIEND! NOD IF YOU UNDERSTAND!" Church's body didn't make a move but we all winced and rubbed our ears. In the background, several yelps indicated that Washington had caught up to Simmons and Grif.

"Well that worked," McGarrett said sarcastically.

"I know something that might," Tucker frowned. "But not a word of this to Wash, ok?"

"Oh shit..." I gulped, realising where this was going. Tucker pulled off both our helmets.

"Hey Tex, I gotta say that you're lookin' _fine_!" he said in a clear voice that wasn't too loud so that Washington would hear him. "Bow Chicka Bow Wow!" he turned to me and placed his lips on mine. Credit to him, Tucker's actually not that bad a kisser. He actually kisses with surprising tenderness, for all his gutsy talk. His lips slowly brushed against mine gently and he then kissed me again, a little firmer. My head started swimming slightly as a yelp of outrage came from Church. Five-0 leapt backwards about three feet as an AI (with the same form as Church's armour) appeared over the body.

"Tucker what the _fuck_ d'you think you're doing?!" he snarled, clenching his fists around his sniper rifle. We quickly broke apart and I could feel my face burning. Just in time too, because Washington rejoined us at that moment, followed by Grif and Simmons who were looking very sore.

"Goddammit Grif, you didn't die!" Sarge snapped when he saw them.

"Sorry to disappoint," Grif retorted.

"I'll kill him for you sir!" Simmons offered. Sarge merely growled and waved his hand to shut Simmons up.

"So what'd we miss?" Washington asked, folding his arms and looking at Church.

"Not much, they only managed to _bring someone back from the dead_!" Danny stared at us.

"Church was never dead to begin with," Tucker pointed out.

"So is he Alpha or Epsilon?" Washington asked.

"We didn't get that far," Sarge replied. Church hovered closer to me, examining my face.

"You're not Tex," he said thoughtfully. "But you look a hell of a lot like her. Are you her sister or some shit like that?"

"Guessing that means he's Alpha then," Simmons concluded. "Epsilon already knows her."

"Can you back away from my face a bit?" I asked Alpha, leaning back slightly.

"Fine," he rolled his eyes and took a few steps backwards. "But you haven't answered the question."

"Texas is my mother," I said, glancing at the others for support.

"And your father is...?" Alpha demanded. I pointed at Washington and Alpha turned to analyse the similarities.

"Holy shit," he turned back to me.

"Don't bother saying it, I've heard it before," I interrupted. Alpha shrugged.

"Fine," he said and turned to the others. "So what do you assholes want?"

"Yay! Church! You're back!" Caboose cheered.

"Hello Caboose," Alpha said wearily. "Glad to see you too. Uh, why are the cops here?" he noticed Five-0 staring at him.

"Are you aware that we've found your body?" Chin asked, pointing at the suit of armour and the blood around it. Alpha followed his finger.

"Aw, fucking hell!" he cursed. "Who the fuck did that?!"

"Wait, you mean you don't know?" Kono frowned at him. Alpha shrugged.

"Well all I remember is some dickhead mugging me in this alleyway and demanding something. He hit me in the fucking face with his gun and we wrestled for a bit before he turned me over and I blacked out. Guess that was when he shot me."

"Right, we need to get back to HQ and check all the security cameras in this area and also where you went to before to check for someone stalking you," McGarrett decided. "Max, take the body and check what type of gun that, er, Alpha was shot with. You lot are coming too," he clarified with us and we all groaned in exasperation.

"Just give me a sec," Alpha said and disappeared. Suddenly I felt a third presence in my mind as Alpha reappeared next to me and Lambda.

"Alright, let's do this!" he cheered. We all exchanged weird looks as we walked back towards the cars. As I turned away, Tucker grabbed my shoulder.

"Hey, about what happened back there..."

"I think it's best if we don't talk about it," I replied, glancing at Washington.

"Ok," Tucker sounded relieved. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and shifted his feet from side to side.

"So, uh, it was ok then?" he stuttered. I gave a small smile as I opened the door to the Camaro.

"You're a better kisser than Hawaii, I'll give you that."


	18. Chapter 18

**A.N. A lot of people have been requesting this and I will now confirm that Tex _is _going to appear in a later chapter. So now you all know ;)**

* * *

Grif and Simmons sank into the seats in the Camaro with two loud groans. McGarrett and Danny smirked and drove off in the direction of Five-0 headquarters. I merely inspected my nails and remained silent. At least, until Grif slapped Simmons and Simmons retaliated by throttling him.

"It was your idea to do an arm wrestling match!" Grif yelled. "And you were the one who brought it down where it...was...brought...down..."

"Kinda lost your trail of thought there," McGarrett pointed out.

"For once can you _shut up_ and not make an already bad situation worse?!" Danny demanded.

"What are you talking about?!" McGarrett protested.

"Yeah asshole!" Simmons pointed an accusatory finger at him. "_You_ were the one who told Wash about the incident and we got the shit beaten out of us!"

"Yeah!" Grif folded his arms.

"You see what I mean?!" Danny said smugly.

"Well at least I didn't tell him about the kiss," McGarrett said meaningfully to me.

"Just...don't," I begged. "Washington would rip Tucker apart."

"Hold on," Simmons turned to me while Grif stared. "What's this about a kiss and Tucker?"

"Nothing," I said, too quickly.

"In order to get Alpha to appear," McGarrett explained. "Tucker called her 'Tex' for some reason and then kissed her."

"I hate you."

"You got kissed by Tucker?" Grif stared at me. "Man, if Wash found out..."

"_But he's not going to_," I growled, glaring at McGarrett. Alpha and Lambda appeared next to me, arms folded. McGarrett held his hands up in mock surrender and nodded once.

"You can be seriously scary sometimes," Grif muttered. "At least we know where you get it from."

"You two aren't to tell Washington either," I clarified.

"What?" Simmons looked at me. "Would _we_ do that?"

"Yes," Alpha, Lambda, Grif and I said at the same time. Simmons shrugged so I decided to show all four of them what I would do to them if they told Washington. McGarrett and Danny yelled and grabbed their ears while Simmons protested loudly at the elbow on this throat and Grif looked down in wary terror at my foot which was resting on his balls.

* * *

"Yay!" Caboose screamed when he saw the computerised table, and then ran at it and leapt on it. "It's so tech-y!"

"Hey! Careful!" Kono scolded. "That's valuable and a vital asset to Five-0's work.

"I love technology!" Caboose chirped, seemingly oblivious. "Church! Come and try this out!"

"Er, actually Caboose, I think I'll pass on that one," Alpha muttered.

"Your loss!" Caboose giggled before Chin promptly tipped him onto the floor.

"Right," Danny said to Alpha. "Where did you go before you were, er, killed?"

"I went to the supermarket, then the DVD rental shop, then the café and finally the bookstore before that dickhead got me," Alpha replied.

"Church, you hate books," Tucker pointed out.

"Is this some kind of nefarious Blue plot?!" Sarge demanded.

"I bet you're right sir!" Simmons contributed.

"Kiss-ass," Grif, Lopez, Washington and I snorted.

"Uh, actually I was looking for a book on how to impress girls," Alpha said awkwardly.

"Oh..." Tucker coughed and we all gave Washington sideways glances.

"Er, Alpha?" he began. "You're not pissed that I...that me and Tex...er..."

"Had a kid?" McGarrett finished and was rewarded by glares all around.

"Seriously. Not. Helping," I growled.

"Well, I, uh," Alpha seemed as lost for words as Washington was. "No. I'm not pissed," he said eventually.

"Right, moving on," Kono said quickly. "I'm quickly running the security footage on all the places Alpha went and there seem to be two constant recurrences," she pointed out two people; a man in a dark hoodie and a woman in normal clothes. "They're in every place that the Alpha was."

"Then lets start with those assholes!" Alpha cried.

"Running facial recognition now," Chin said, scanning their faces. "Right, there wasn't a good enough angle to get a clear fix on the male," he said a few minutes later. "But we did get a good one on her." The woman's face flashed up on the screen. She had wispy grey/brown hair tied up in a ponytail but part of it was hanging over the left side of her face. Her blue eyes had a frightened yet determined look in them.

"Holy shit," Washington stepped forwards. "That's... CT..."

"As in Agent Connecticut?" I frowned. "The traitor?"

"Or CT the jackass who terrorised me and Junior in the desert?" Tucker scowled. "But I swear that CT was a guy." Sarge, Grif and Caboose nodded in agreement.

"That was the leader of the insurrection who you encountered," Washington explained. "He must have taken on her identity after South killed her."

"Well it turns out that she's rented a room at the hotel which overlooks Ala Manoa park," Kono frowned.

"Well there's our starting point," McGarrett decided, motioning for us and Danny to follow him. "We find out what CT knows and if she's not the killer, hopefully she'll lead us to him."

"Well that was easy," I commented to Washington as we walked down to where the cars were.

"I know," he agreed, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "A little too easy..."

* * *

"Five-0, open up!" McGarrett banged on the door to CT's room with his gun. The hotel receptionist had confirmed that she hadn't checked out so we were paying her a visit.

"Agent Connecticut, we know you're in there!" McGarrett was starting to sound annoyed. "We just wanna ask you some questions!" When there was no answer, McGarrett simply kicked the door down. We entered, guns raised. The room was a mess. The bedding was rumpled, clothes were strewn everywhere and the mirror was smashed. As I slowly opened the bathroom door, the others checked for any dropped evidence. The sight that greeted me wasn't the nicest thing I've ever seen.

"Uh, Washington...?" Washington and McGarrett came up behind me and we all looked at CT's body. She had been shot in the head, stabbed multiple times, had her neck broken and seemed to have been drowned in the bath.

"Someone really wanted her dead," I said quietly as McGarrett went in closer and Danny called HPD.

"You got that right," the Navy SEAL replied, picking up a bloodstained knife and a 38 calibre gun that was still smoking slightly. "This person didn't care how they did it, they just wanted it done."

"CT was an ex-Freelancer wasn't she?" Tucker frowned.

"Yeah, why?" Washington replied.

"Surely she'd have put up a fight and a pretty hard one too, judging by all the Freelancers we've had experience with," Simmons pointed out.

"Not if they took her by surprise," Grif pointed out.

"Shuddup Grif!" Sarge snapped.

"What the hell?!" Danny squawked. "That was a pretty good suggestion and that's probably what happened!"

"Just don't ask..." Grif muttered.

"Hey, what's that in her hand?" Lambda appeared and pointed at what looked like a piece of bloodstained paper clutched in CT's hand. McGarrett withdrew it as sirens outside indicated that HPD had arrived.

"Is it a pretty picture?" Donut gasped.

"No maldito idiota, es claramente una especie de nota," Lopez snapped.

"It's not a picture, it's a note," McGarrett almost facepalmed.

"¡Acabo de decir eso!" Lopez growled.

"Are you even contributing to this?" Danny asked. "We don't actually know because we don't understand a word you're saying..."

"¡Santa madre de Dios! ¡Me doy por vencido!" Lopez threw his hands up in exasperation.

"What does that goddamn note say?!" Sarge demanded. McGarrett held it up to the light so we could all see. It read:

MUST WARN A. B4 2 LATE. HE'S COMING FOR HIM. PROTECT HIM. I'M SORRY

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'No you fucking idiot, it's clearly some sort of note' 'I just said that!' 'Sweet mother of god! I give up!'**


	19. Chapter 19

"So let me get this straight," Chin said when we were back at Five-0 headquarters. "You're saying that someone wanted this CT dead so badly, that they butchered her?"

"Pretty much," McGarrett replied grimly as we all looked up at the images on the screens.

"Hey Kono, have we got anything on that note or the weapons?" Danny asked.

"Fong has checked and double checked the weapons; no prints. The note could be referring to the other guy who was stalking Alpha."

"The 'warn A' bit on the note could also be linked to Alpha," Grif piped up. "Maybe CT spotted this jackass and was trying to warn Alpha before they were both killed."

"That's a really good suggestion," McGarrett said approvingly.

"Grif! Shut the fuck up!" Sarge barked.

"What the hell?!" Danny rounded on him. "He made a valid suggestion which could help tremendously with this investigation!"

"Just don't ask," Grif said wearily. Sarge growled and swung at him, causing him to squawk and dart round the other side of the table. Sarge followed and he and Grif chased each other round the table until we got bored so Washington, Tucker, Simmons and Lopez restrained Sarge while I causally rested my foot on Grif's crotch and tapped it now and again, causing squeaks of terror to come from him.

* * *

"Commander McGarrett, I think I have found something that may interest you," Max said over the phone when we were back in the Camaro. McGarrett had suggested that we revisit the places that Alpha had gone before he was killed to see if there were any clues there. Danny had mentioned that it usually took them a lot longer to get to this stage in their investigations to which McGarrett pointed out that in this investigation, we had help from the victim.

"Yeah, what is it Max?" Danny said.

"I have been studying CT's body and I have managed to obtain a blood sample that is not her own," Max replied.

"Alright, how Max?" McGarrett exchanged a look with Danny and Simmons. I was preoccupied, namely because Grif had fallen asleep on my shoulder and there wasn't enough room to shove him away.

"It appears that when CT struggled with her attacker, she was able to transfer some of his DNA onto herself," Max explained.

"...how?" Simmons frowned.

"There are remains of blood on her teeth," Max said calmly. "This indicates that she was able to bite her attacker so hard she drew blood and some of it remained on her teeth. I have already collected a sample of it and sent it off to Fong for identification."

"Excellent work Max," McGarrett praised him as Danny contacted Chin and Kono to inform them of the developments. "This case is coming along insanely fast, which is a very good thing. Call us if there are any new leads buddy."

"Yeah, well, I'm a badass," Alpha appeared next to my head.

"And modest to boot," Danny commented and Simmons, McGarrett and I smirked. We pulled over at a café and waited for Chin and Kono to do the same while we grabbed a table and waited for Fong or Max to call back.

"I hope that there wasn't another incident in the car," Washington said sternly as they walked over and sat down with us. Grif and Simmons gulped.

"No sir," they mumbled at the same time.

"Usted debe ver sus rostros, que está tan aterrorizado," Lopez chortled. "¡Esto es jodidamente genial!"

"Uh, sure Lopez," Tucker gave him a strange look and was rewarded with the middle finger. At that moment, McGarrett's phone rang and he put it on speaker phone.

"Hey Fong, what've you got?"

"Well I ran the DNA in the blood that Max sent me," Charlie Fong replied. "And I was able to get a positive match. This guy also matches the characteristics shown in the CCTV footage you guys obtained."

"Great, who is it?" Kono asked as Alpha pumped his fist in triumph.

* * *

"Five-0, open up!" McGarrett rapped on the apartment door. "We're not going to ask you again." When there was no response, Chin kicked down the door. We followed Five-0 in but were greeted with an empty apartment. Tucker strode over to the balcony and looked over it.

"Bollocks! He's making a run for it!" he yelled and pointed at our man who was sprinting across the courtyard.

"Oh mierda," Lopez cursed.

"Goddammit, we'll never catch him now!" Simmons growled.

"And we can't shoot him because we need him alive," Danny grumbled in agreement.

"Typical men," I muttered to Kono. "Always leaving us women to sort out their messes."

"Damn right sister," she agreed as I activated my teleporter.

Our man glanced over his shoulder, still running, and saw that nobody was following him. He allowed himself a relaxed simile, turned his head forwards again...and promptly ran into my fist.

"Argh!" he groaned, collapsing and clutching his nose.

"That was a good call of yours there Lambda," I commented as I put my foot on our man's neck.

"Why thank you," he bowed.

"Sheesh man, what's with the whole bowing shit?" Alpha raised his eyebrow.

"It is a way of showing gratitude," Lambda replied calmly. "I was just...caught up in the moment."

"If you say so," Alpha shrugged.

"You two are worse than Grif and Simmons," I rolled my eyes and our man looked up at me and frowned.

"Agent Texas?"

"Nope," I shrugged, pointing at my eyes. "She's got blue eyes, I've got green." His eyes narrowed.

"Then you must be Texas and Washington's offspring then."

"Bingo," I grinned. "But here's not really the place to catch up." I bent down, grabbed his ear and teleported back into the apartment. Our man was immediately seized by McGarrett and Chin and handcuffed to the bed. Washington pulled his helmet off and smiled down at him coldly.

"Hello Counsellor."

"Agent Washington," the Counsellor replied just as coolly. "I see that you and your offspring were one of the lucky few who survived the fall of Project Freelancer...caused by your girlfriend if I remember correctly."

"Don't talk about her," Washington put his arm round my shoulders protectively.

"That doesn't explain why you tried to kill Alpha and butchered CT," Danny folded his arms. The Counsellor gave a twisted smile.

"The plan was always to retrieve the Alpha some time after we'd transferred him so we could resume our tests-"

"And by that you mean 'torture'," Simmons interrupted.

"Torture is a drastic word. But anyway, the whole issue with Beta going rogue and infected that medic diverted us from retrieving the Alpha. And then we had problems with Agent Maine and when Washington," the Counsellor glared at the man in question. "Set off that blasted EMP which destroyed a bunch of AIs. So imagine my relief when I found the Alpha here, on O'ahu. I waited for several days before making my move. Unfortunately, CT discovered me and guessed what my plan was. She began keeping tabs on me and when I made my move on Alpha, she followed me and tried to stop me. In the process, Alpha was shot and I had to bid a hasty retreat. Later, I followed CT back to her hotel and killed her to keep her quiet. I was then going to try my luck again with the Alpha but then you lot came along." He glared at us with open hatred in his eyes and there was a long pause.

"Dude, you're fucking insane!" Tucker said eventually.

"Completely barmy," Simmons agreed as we all nodded and McGarrett and Chin took the Counsellor out of the room to take to jail for pre-meditated attempted murder and murder. However, before the Counsellor was out of ear-shot, Alpha couldn't resist one last crazy jibe.

"Bro, you have gone completely out of your tree, fell into a truck of fruit cakes and then been shat on by a fleet of bats."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'You should see your faces; you are so terrified. This is fucking brilliant!' 'Oh shit'**


	20. Chapter 20

"So the Counsellor's been put away for life then?" Alpha clarified as we enjoyed a massive platter of shrimp at Kamekona's, courtesy of Donut. McGarrett had agreed to drop the charges of wallet theft against him if he bought us a celebratory meal and drinks. Washington had raised his eyebrow when I ordered a beer but he didn't stop me. What I _did_ have to deal with, however, was Grif constantly trying to steal some, despite him and Simmons being on the opposite end of the table to me; that was Washington's way of punishing/preventing them from doing a...repeat of the _incident_ in the car. Oh well, that's my dad for you; he allows me to drink but won't allow me to be near two of my best friends until he's satisfied because of a slight incident. Go figure.

"Yep," Chin said after swallowing his mouthful of fried shrimp. "Next time he's leaving that prison is in a wooden box."

"Yay," Alpha beamed and logged off. Grif leant back in his seat and ordered another beer. Kamekona waltzed over and presented the alcohol.

"There you are, brah," he beamed as Grif expertly popped the top off and swallowed a huge gulp.

"Excellent," Sarge cackled, rubbing his hands together. "Now all I have to do is wait for him to sleep and then I can shoot him with my SHOTGUN!"

"Fuck you Sarge," Grif retorted.

"Excellent plan, sir!" Simmons chirped.

"No, no es," Lopez scoffed. "Es un plan de mierda que nunca va a funcionar."

"Well I think it's safe to say that this is the best case we've ever worked," McGarrett summarised.

"I agree," Danny nodded. "It went insanely fast."

"Well as a bonus, we had help from the vic," Kono pointed out. "Sadly, that's probably never going to happen again."

"Most people aren't as talented or good looking as me," Alpha bragged.

"And they're not as fucking modest either," Tucker said sarcastically. Alpha raised his middle finger at him. For the next twenty minutes or so, we all discussed the case and our lives in Blood Gulch before Tucker spoke in a strange echoing voice.

"_Is she asleep or has she fucking died_?" The others didn't seem to notice and Washington then spoke in the same echoing voice only he sounded slightly irritated.

"_Tucker I've seen what people look like when they're dead. For one thing she's_ breathing _and she's just in a deep sleep."_

_"I know how to wake her up. Bow Chicka Bow_ _W-_OW_! That fucking hurt!"_

_"I know. That's why I did it."_

"_You're an asshole_!" I groaned as I realised what had to be happening and the scene began flickering. Before I woke up, I quickly turned to McGarrett.

"Tell Wo Fat he's a jackass and say hi to Catherine for me." McGarrett frowned.

"How do you know about them?" Unfortunately, I never got to answer his question as my eyes opened and Blue Base came into perspective.

* * *

"That must've been one good dream," Washington remarked as he sat down next to me on the bed. "You slept for a little over 12 hours."

"Really?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "It didn't feel that long. But then again, sleeping never does."

"True," Washington put his arm around me and drew me closer to him. "So what was the dream about?"

"Oh, you know. Stuff," I said vaguely. He raised his eyebrow in amusement and looked at the DVD on the bedside cabinet.

"Was it Hawaii Five-0 by any chance?"

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Well, yeah it was about Hawaii Five-0. We were all there and we were investigating the attempted murder of Church."

"Alpha or Epsilon."

"Alpha."

"Poor Alpha. Everything seems to happen to him."

"Well the good news is that he survived cos he's an AI which freaked out Five-0 a bit. We found out that two people (a male and a female) had been stalking Alpha leading up to his 'death'. We found out that the woman was CT but we found her murdered in her hotel room with only a cryptic note to go on. After a few leads, we found out that the man was the Counsellor."

"I always found him creepy," Washington admitted. "Before and after Epsilon's botched implantation."

"Well we managed to catch him in the end and he admitted to the attempted murder of Alpha and murder of CT. Finally, while we were celebrating, he was saying aloha to jail. That's when you and Tucker woke me up," I finished and he had the dignity to look slightly guilty.

"So a good dream then?" he asked, cleverly changing the subject.

"One of the best," I replied before shouts from down the corridor interrupted our conversation.

"Oh what the fuck has happened now?" Washington sighed, quickly kissing the side of my head and running to investigate. I leant back on the bed and looked at my Hawaii Five-0 DVD and Washington's photo of Texas. Lambda appeared next to me.

"I notice you didn't tell Agent Washington about the more...personal aspects of your dream, such as Private Grif's and Private First Class Simmons' arm wrestle in the car and Private First Class Tucker's method of getting Alpha to appear," he said craftily.

"I swear to God Lambda, if you even think about telling him, then I will get Doc to download a virus into you that makes you think that you're a little girl in a frilly dress who loves flowers, rainbows, pink and, uh...rollercoasters."

At the last suggestion, Lambda gave a high-pitched squeak which caused an oh-so-evil smile to spread across my face.

"You're scared of rollercoasters?"

"Er...no."

* * *

I was still waiting on the bed, flicking through the photo album of Project Freelancer, when Tucker entered. He had his helmet off and he walked over to the side of the bed.

"Got two messages. One from Wash, one from Doc," he said mildly. "Wash says that he's going to be a while so if you seriously want to, you can watch your DVD."

"Seeing the paternal side coming through on that," I muttered.

"And Doc says that in a bit he's going to be running some tests to determine when you can return to Red Base," Tucker finished.

"Thanks," I nodded and glanced back at the page I was on. Looking up, I saw that Tucker was still there, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yes?"

"Er, I was just wondering, but, uh, how many times have you, um, been kissed?" the Blue muttered. I shrugged.

"About five times. All were pretty crap though." Tucker seemed to become a lot more relaxed and grinned, striding over and sitting on the bed next to me.

"Tucker? What are you doing?"

"No hard feelings; just breaking the streak of bad kisses you've had," he grinned again and leaned in.

That was funny. He kissed me exactly the same as how he did in the dream.

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translation: 'No it's not. It's a shit plan that is never going to work.'**


	21. Chapter 21

**A.N. U will nvr know- In response to your last review but one; an SU-100 is a Soviet casemate-style tank destroyer. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world. Tanks are awesome. I have Sheila's backing on that one ;)**

* * *

I winced as Doc pressed the needle into my skin and pushed down on the plunger. I didn't quite know what was contained in it but he had informed me that it would replenish the blood I had lost so that I would be able to return to Red Base in a few hours. So instead of complaining like I usually would, I kept my mouth shut and let him work. Lambda decided to comment on my lack of communication so in retaliation I began thinking all about rollercoasters (I have been on about two dozen because of trips to the amusement park when I was still in my various orphanages). That shut him up. Doc withdrew the needle and placed the syringe back on his little medical table that he had brought into Washington's room. Washington himself was dealing with Tucker and Caboose in the Blues' training room where there seemed to have been some sort of mishap with some of the vehicles. Doc had quietly admitted to me earlier that even if the vehicles needed complex mechanical repairs, the Blues were far too scared to call Lopez to help them fix them for understandable reasons. Sometimes _we're_ too scared to ask Lopez for help with repairs and he's on our fucking _team_! Doc opened the First Aid bag he had brought on the table and put a plaster over the hole where the needle had gone into my skin. He then checked his medical notes and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. Sometimes it's hard to remember that at one point he had a rogue AI in his head, controlling him, whose murderous and psychotic behaviour rivalled only Omega on a good day.

* * *

Grif and Lopez were waiting outside Blue Base with a spare Warthog when I walked outside, supported by Washington and Tucker. Doc had given me back my armour, where he had kept it under lock and key in the medical room, though while I was changing back into it, Caboose and Doc had had to stand guard outside the door and Washington had had to make sure that Tucker was on the other side of the base. I also had my sniper rifle, Magnum and Hawaii Five-0 DVD with me. Grif and Washington helped me into the shotgun seat of the Warthog while Tucker leant against the wall of the base and Lopez looked down at our every move with a cynical eye.

"Ok, I think we're all good," Grif said, slotting the keys into the ignition and starting the engine.

"So I guess the next time I'll see you is probably when you next try to steal our flag or vice versa," Washington grinned.

"Probably," I agreed. At that moment I noticed that his eyes were filled with sadness and pain. I placed my hand on his arm.

"You'll see me again before you know it," I reassured him. "Plus we're just across the canyon." He gave a small sigh and lightly ran his thumb over my knuckles.

"That's true I guess," he admitted.

"Uh, Wash?" Doc crept out the base, giving Lopez a wary glance as he passed him. "We're still having some...vehicle mishaps..."

"¿Accidentes de vehículos?" Lopez looked up sharply. "¿Ha roto el Warthog que te di hace un rato? ¡Porque si usted tiene, he jodido juro por Dios que voy a robarte aparte!" Doc gave a high pitched squeak and scampered back into the base. Lopez cocked his head onto one side as he stared after the retreating medic. I pulled my helmet off, leaned out of the Warthog and quickly kissed Washington's cheek.

"See ya," I said, pulling my helmet back on. Washington gave another grin and stood back as Grif revved the engine and the Warthog began pulling away from the side of the base. Tucker gave me a short salute, which I returned to his evident amusement, before Blue Base was out of sight.

* * *

I opened the door to my bedroom, entered, shut it again and promptly collapsed on my bed with a groan. I had enjoyed my time with Washington at Blue Base but it felt so fucking good to be back home in Red Base. I pulled my helmet off and tossed it on the floor. After I had been welcomed back by Sarge, Simmons and Donut (and had some of his fantastic cupcakes...don't tell him I said that though), we had then had to do some intensive drills (taking special care not to break the Warthogs), tried to kill Grif as part of said drills and then gone back to the kitchen for coffee and had showers if need be. I pulled my hair out of its plait and watched as it tumbled down my shoulders, the way Texas' did in the photo in Washington's room. I sighed and stretched my arms over my head. Lambda appeared next to me.

"Good to be home, isn't it?"

"Yep," I said, lowering my arms again. "Blue Base was fun but I'm always going to come back to Red Base in the end." Lambda nodded and logged off. I grabbed my Hawaii Five-0 DVD and placed it on my bedside cabinet. I smiled as I looked down at the four faces on the cover and thought about the dream I'd had the night before. I felt my cheeks flush slightly as I remembered Grif and Simmons' arm wrestle and Tucker's way of getting Alpha to come and say aloha to us all. They flushed even more as I also remembered what had happened earlier this morning after I'd woken up. Inside my head, Lambda gave a low chuckle. I scowled but I kept thinking about the kiss; how Tucker's lips brushed against mine. I still stand by what I said in the dream; he's a damn good kisser, way better than Hawaii. Then, almost inexplicably, my mind was drawn to another good kiss I'd had but had forgotten to tell Tucker about.

* * *

_It was my second Christmas with the Reds in Blood Gulch; I was seventeen. We had managed to persuade Sarge not to attack the Blues today and instead milled around Red Base, drinking beer and playing Christmas songs. Donut had cooked up a damn nice Christmas lunch and nobody had broken Lopez's Warthogs, which made one happy Spanish robot. It was late afternoon/early evening and we were all sat in a circle in the training room playing Truth or Dare with one of Grif's empty beer bottles. Simmons was forced to sing a Spanish love song (given to him by Lopez), Sarge had had to let Grif hold his shotgun for three whole minutes, Donut had to recount some of his old ballet shows and Lopez had been forced at gunpoint (literally) to dismantle the engine of his prize Warthog. The bottle slowed and came to a stop, pointing at me._

_"Fine. Dare," I shrugged. Sarge, Lopez and Donut thought for a bit before Simmons piped up._

_"I got one! I dare you to kiss Grif!"_

_"Oh yay," Lopez chortled. "Esto va a ser _bueno_." Sarge and Donut chortled while Grif rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and I rolled my eyes._

_"Whatever. Come on Grif," I pulled him to his feet and we walked out the door together. Once they had shut, we turned so we were face to face._

_"No hard feelings?" Grif clarified._

_"No hard feelings," I confirmed, smiling. Grif also grinned (which makes him look insanely hot) and gently cupped my face in his hands. He leant in and brushed his lips over mine. I also leant in so they were crushed together. His hands slowly moved from my chin, one to my hip and the other to my hair, the fingers gently twirling the black strands around them. I curled my fingers against his chest and pulled him closer. As our lips moved together in perfect unison, a small soft groan escaped him; a sound I'd never in my wildest dreams thought I'd hear from Grif. My own hands moved up from his chest to his shoulders and then to his neck and just rested there. Grif's lips were warm and firm and I could taste the spice from the Christmas cake he had eaten earlier. We stayed like that for a good couple of minutes before we broke away, both of us panting slightly. Grif looked at me and gave a nervous smile._

_"So how was that?" I smiled too._

_"Easily the best kiss I've ever had, ever. Of all time."_

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'Vehicle mishaps? Have you broken the Warthog I gave you a while back? Because if you have, I fucking swear to god that I will rip you apart!' 'Ooh yay. This is going to be _good_'**


	22. Chapter 22

"Whatcha thinking about?" Grif asked when he came into my room later. I was lying on my bed with a book on my lap but I was staring into space. At the sound of his voice I jolted back into the present.

"Huh? Oh you know. Just...stuff," I said vaguely.

"Descriptive," Grif replied sarcastically, coming over and sitting down next to me on my bed.

"Uh, yeah," I shut the book and sat up. "Not to be rude or anything Grif but why are you here?"

"Sarge," he grumbled; no further explanation was needed. I nodded and grinned, moving up behind him.

"Aww, poor Grif," I teased, ruffling his already adorably scruffy brown hair. He growled and tried to shake free.

"Gerroff," he muttered. I merely grinned and rested my head on top of his. I'm not going to lie; I do think that Grif, Simmons and Tucker are hot as fuck, each in their individual ways. Grif has a sexy-rugged look about him which indicates that before he joined the military and turned his body into gravy he was actually quite fit physically. His tanned skin, brown hair and green eyes also helps his appeal. Simmons is more sexy-broody. The small metal parts on his cheek could make him less good looking but instead gives him the look of a battle hardened soldier. His own brown hair (slightly lighter than Grif's) sticks up slightly and his brown eyes have a way on focusing on you intently which is so adorable. Tucker is fit and boy does he know it. He has this thing where he tilts his head on one side when you're talking which is also quite cute. He constantly grins at you and shows off with his sword by holding it over his dark skin and showing you the glow. With anyone else it would be irritating but he makes it work somehow. Like me he has black hair and his blue eyes always twinkle with amusement.

"Hello?" Grif said suddenly, waving his hand in front of my face. "Still with us?"

"What? Oh yeah. Sorry."

"You seem to be away with the fairies a lot lately."

"Seriously Grif? I'm almost nineteen and anyway, you _know_ fairies don't exist."

"Tell that to Donut."

* * *

Sarge decided to call a meeting at 11:30.

"Right men," he said in a low voice. "Last time the Blues managed to get the jump on us by having Doc stand guard. But this time we have an advantage!"

"¿Y qué es eso?" Lopez scoffed. "¿No me digas que ahora tenemos un maldito gigante cañón mortero o alguna mierda así?"

"Exactly Lopez!" Sarge rubbed his hands together. "The element of surprise!"

"¿¡Lo que el-?! ¡Yo no he dicho eso!" Lopez snapped.

"Why do we have the element of surprise sir?" Simmons asked eagerly.

"Because," Sarge chuckled. "We attacked the Blues at night, correct?"

"It would have succeeded if Simmons hadn't have knocked Doc out so crappily!" Grif glared at him.

"I'd like to have seen you come up with a better method, asshole!" Simmons retaliated.

"Both of you shut up or I'll show you how similar I am to Texas," I threatened. That shut them up.

"Good," Sarge cackled. "Now here's the plan; we will head to Blue Base and you three will go and get the flag like before. However, because the Blues won't think that we'll try this again, they won't have posted any guards! Clever right?"

"Genio," Lopez snorted sarcastically.

* * *

"Well that went well," Grif gasped as we tore out of Blue Base, followed by Tucker who was shooting at us.

"How the fuck was _I_ to know that the Blues were guarding the flag room?!" Simmons snapped.

"Sarge isn't always right, you know!" I retorted as we scrambled up the cliff.

"Scatter!" Simmons yelled and we parted.

"I'm still gonna find you, Reds!" Tucker yelled from behind us. We ignored him. Being as quiet as I could, I leapt over some rocks and scrabbled down a narrow passageway. I eventually got to an open spot that was concealed by a wall of rock but still provided a way out. I pressed up against the wall, panting slightly, and pulled my helmet off. I froze as I heard footsteps coming from the other entrance and gave a small shriek as someone came up behind me, clapped their hand over my mouth and dragged me into a hidden opening that wasn't easily seen in the dark.

"Ssh, it's ok! It's me!" Simmons hissed.

"_What the fuck Simmons_?!" I protested into his hand while I was pressed up against the wall with him in front of me.

"Ssh!" he hissed again. "Tucker decided to follow me and he's getting close. So just ssh for a little bit."

"_Fine_," I growled. We both froze as we heard Tucker's footsteps, louder this time.

"Now where the fuck could he have gone?" Tucker mused aloud. "He must've gone that way," he ran up through the other entrance; the one I came down. Simmons took his hand off my mouth and we both crept out of our hiding spot and ran out through the other entrance. We split ways again and this time, I made my way through the vegetation. Seeing a tall tree, I climbed up it and sat there. Feeling my exposed head I cursed; Simmons had grabbed my helmet when he took me by surprise so he must still have it. I leant back and breathed in the crisp night air. I had another surprise when I felt another person behind me slip onto the same branch that I was on and gently covered my mouth with his hand.

"Don't move," Grif ordered quietly. "Tucker spotted me after he lost Simmons and chased after me. Just keep quiet."

"_There_ are _more polite ways of doing this_," I muttered but did as he asked. Grif's lips were right next to my ear and I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. Grif had enclosed my hand in his free one while the fingers on the one covering my mouth were softly stroking my cheek. We heard Tucker pass under our tree, muttering to himself and then swearing loudly as he stubbed his toe on a rock. He continued swearing as he continued through the vegetation. Grif removed his hand and we both slid down from the tree. He went back the way I came while I went east. I flipped over a large boulder and darted across some smaller rocks before I slipped into a cave. I pushed some of my hair out of my eyes and tried to wake Lambda up. Unfortunately, he still wasn't talking to me since I played a video of rollercoasters on YouTube in revenge for when he teased me about my dream. I let my breath out in a quiet sigh before rolling my eyes as, for the third time, a hand clamped over my mouth and pulled me backwards. I felt my back pressed against something warm and soft but also hard; namely armour.

"Well that was fucking hard but at least I've now caught one of you," Tucker panted.

"_Oh bollocks_," I muttered into his hand. He gave an exhausted laugh and pulled me out of the cave, his hand still over my mouth.

"Hey Grif, Simmons!" he yelled. "I've got her! So you might wanna come out now! Games over assholes and I won!"

"It's not over till it's over!" Simmons announced dramatically as he and Grif climbed down to where Tucker and I were.

"What the fuck?" Grif rolled his eyes.

"That just sounds gay, Simmons," Tucker raised his eyebrow.

"_Can you get your hand off my mouth already_?!" I demanded, only for him to tighten his grip.

"And now," he announced. "Back to Blue Base!"

"_Again_?" I protested as he dragged me after Grif and Simmons. He merely smirked as we reached the entrance. He typed a code into the wall and stood back as nothing happened.

"What the fuck?!" he typed in the code again. Still nothing. He tried three more times with the same result each time.

"Why don't we try Red Base?" Simmons suggested and we walked over. Grif typed our code in but, as with Blue Base, nothing happened.

"_Has Donut decided to lock up for the night_?" I suggested into Tucker's hand.

"Looks like it," Grif sighed in exasperation.

"Well it looks like we'll have to camp out here until morning," Simmons ran a hand through his hair.

"Meh, I've camped with worse people," Tucker shrugged, playing with a piece of my hair with his free hand.

"_Get off_!" I snapped.

"Or what?" Tucker chuckled. "You can't contact Wash until morning."

"_I'm aware of that. Let me just remind you that looks aren't the _only_ thing I inherited from Texas_."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'And what's that? Don't tell me we now have a giant fucking mortar cannon or some shit like that?' 'What the-?! I never said that!' 'Genius'**


	23. Chapter 23

**A.N. U will nvr know-Oh god. I didn't realise that until you told me. Oops. :/ This isn't going to end well... *cringes***

**Tucker: Bow Chicka Bow-**

**Everyone else: NO!**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! WARNING: Scenes of intense ball-related violence ahead**

* * *

"Great," Grif grumbled as we walked away from Red Base. "Camping. Out of all the things in the world, why did it have to be fucking _camping_?!"

"D'you not like camping then Grif?" Tucker smirked.

"Not like it? I fucking _hate_ it!" Grif growled. Simmons chuckled while I smirked behind Tucker's hand (yes, he was _still_ covering my mouth!). We walked back (or rather, I half walked, was half pulled) to the rocky part where we had hidden from Tucker. We climbed up various paths and across rocks and vegetation until we reached a flat slab of rock that also shielded us from the wind.

"I say we stay here for the night," Simmons concluded.

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock," Tucker said sarcastically while Grif folded his arms and sniggered. Tucker pulled me along with him as he walked towards a bit of rock that jutted out and provided a suitable seat.

"_Get off_!" I snapped but he ignored me. He sank down on the rock with a sigh of relief.

"Oh fuck it feels good to be sitting down again," he groaned, taking his hand off my mouth so he could stretch. As soon as he put his arms down by his sides again, I pounced, tackling him to the ground.

"What the fuck?!" he yelled.

"Dude, you can't say that you didn't see that coming," Grif raised his eyebrow as I forcefully turned Tucker onto his back.

"She's been giving you a look that promised death all this time," Simmons added.

"Oh so _now_ you tell _ME_!" Tucker's voice rose to a high pitched squeak as I raised my fists and then brought them down as hard as I could.

"_That's_ for sneaking up behind me and then not letting me go!" I growled with every punch. "_That's_ for playing with my hair without my permission! _That's_ for ignoring me! And _that's_ for dragging me all this way when I could have walked!"

"I think I got the message!" Tucker groaned.

* * *

Grif and Simmons eventually managed to drag me off Tucker. I know that I think that he's good looking but he can also be annoying as hell! I sat on the other side of the slab of rock, glaring at Tucker at appropriate intervals. By this time, it was about 2:30 in the morning and we were all knackered.

"Er," Simmons cleared his throat awkwardly. "Look, don't hate me for saying this but as you've gathered, it's late and we need to sleep. However, because the temperature drops at night time, we need to keep warm. And the most conventional way of doing that is, er, to, um, sorta...huddle together?" his voice trailed off.

"Kinda lost your train of thought there," Grif muttered.

"No!" I snapped. "I am _not_ doing that!"

"Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun," Tucker sidled up to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me to where Grif and Simmons were standing awkwardly. I'll admit, I _was_ secretly looking forward to sleeping under the stars with the three hottest guys in Blood Gulch but I was still kinda nervous. I knew that nothing bad would happen to me (Tucker wouldn't be able to use his balls for quite a while, much to his distress which he voiced loudly when he discovered this) but the consequences still concerned me. Not Sarge so much, despite the fact that he'd be pissed off that we were 'fraternising with the Blues'. No, it was Washington who had me worried. Don't get me wrong; he's a great guy and the best dad a girl could ask for but there's always that level of protectiveness, if my dream was anything to go by. The kisses I've received over my life (especially the good ones from Grif and Tucker) I think he could handle but we'd all be dealing with the most pissed off Freelancer since The Meta after the guys deleted his AIs if I lost my virginity tonight. Taking advantage of my hesitation, Tucker sat down on the ground and slowly lay on his back, patting the space next to him. I rolled my eyes and lay down myself away from him. Grif and Simmons slid in between us before Tucker elbowed Simmons out the way so he could be next to me.

"Don't try _anything_," I hissed at him and he raised his hands in surrender. I rolled my eyes and rested my head on the nearest comfortable thing which just so happened to be Grif's chest. Simmons scowled and moved so that he was lying down horizontally just above our heads. His arms moved into comfortable positions, one of which was the hand resting on the side of my neck. Tucker raised his eyebrow and moved closer to me, pressing his body against mine. He lay his head down so it was resting on my shoulder and his hand moved down and the fingers wrapped around my own.

_Great_, I thought to myself. _How the hell am I going to be able to sleep with three good looking guys sleeping next to me?!_

Lambda was no help whatsoever.

* * *

I woke up to a sound that I've never, not even in all my time at various orphanages, woken up to. Groaning, I opened my eyes to see Washington and Sarge standing in front of us looking very unimpressed. Washington was tapping his foot, which wad what had woken me up. Looking around I saw that in the night we had changed positions; my hair was spread all over Grif's chest while his head was resting on top of mine. Simmons' hand had moved down from my neck and was resting across my upper chest (no, not my boobs in case that's what any of you were thinking; if it was then Simmons wouldn't be here today) and Tucker's head was resting in between my shoulder and my neck. When I saw the scowl on Washington's face, I quickly jabbed my elbow into Tucker's ribs, causing him to let out a loud squawk which subsequently woke Grif and Simmons up.

"So," Washington said once we were all awake. "Care to explain?"

"It was Simmons' idea!" Grif said quickly.

"What the fuck?!" Simmons turned on him furiously.

"Well it was," I pointed out, earning a glare from him.

"She's right," Tucker shrugged. "Both of them are. It _was_ your idea to do this."

"It was the most practical thing to do in the circumstances!" Simmons squeaked when he glanced up and saw the look on Washington's face. Sarge growled and stepped forwards but even he stopped when he saw Washington's expression.

"Right," my father said calmly but coldly. "Let me guess. You three tried to steal the flag but Tucker caught you. You lot then proceeded to play, essentially, hide and seek until someone caught you, you all went back to their base, found they were both locked up for the night and then came back up here to go to sleep?"

"Yes sir," Simmons whimpered. Tucker began fiddling with his armour, Sarge coughed slightly, I rubbed the back of my neck and Grif flexed his fingers slightly. Washington raised his eyebrow as he surveyed us and there was an awkward silence.

"Tucker, back to Blue Base," Washington said eventually. Tucker nodded quickly, grabbed his helmet and ran off.

"Sarge, take your soldiers back to Red Base," Washington continued and for once, Sarge did what a Blue told him to do and beckoned for us to follow him. However, as I passed Washington, he put his hand on my shoulder and looked down at me with a stern look in his eyes.

"...oh shit."


	24. Chapter 24

Washington lead me back down the side of the cliff; him leading and me trailing behind, twirling the end of my now messy plait awkwardly. He stopped when we reached an open area that was shielded from Red and Blue Base but we could still see them. Simmons was hanging his head while Grif was walking with his adorable I-don't-really-give-a-shit attitude. Sarge was following them, growling and tightening his grip on his shotgun. On the other side of the canyon, Tucker was stalking back to Blue Base moodily, kicking any rocks unfortunate enough to be in his way. Washington cleared his throat, jerking my attention back to him, and pulled his helmet off. His green eyes stared into my identical ones and he raised his eyebrow slightly.

"So," his foot began to tap and I scowled down at it. "Mind telling me what all that was about?"

"Nothing happened," I protested. "We just...slept. It was Simmons' idea."

"So I've been told," Washington responded calmly. I scowled again and kicked a rock moodily. It detached from the side of the cliff and tumbled down. From the squawk below us, it was clear that it had only just missed Doc. I growled and yanked my hair out of its plait, watching as it tumbled down my back and over my shoulders. Washington just watched coolly as I kicked another rock, which tumbled down the cliff and Sheila blew it to pieces.

"Kicking rocks and sending them down hills is not advisable," she said in that infuriatingly cheerful voice of hers. I snarled and whirled around to leave before Washington's hand fell on my shoulder and pulled me back.

"Oh COME ON!" I seethed, yanking my shoulder free. Washington gave a small sigh.

"I know understand what they mean when they say how difficult it is to raise a teenager," he commented mildly. I growled and punched a slab of rock, creating a large crack to spread across it.

"If that rock falls down in the night and kills us, it's your fault," Washington said calmly.

"Like hell that's ever gonna happen," I retaliated.

"You'd be surprised," Washington looked at me again. "When I was in Project Freelancer, shit like that happened all the time."

"But this isn't Freelancer is it?" I argued. Washington gave another sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm not going to lecture you like most fathers would; instead I'm going to cut that crap," he said eventually. "And move straight onto this: you're grounded."

"WHAT?!" I yelled, whirling round. "You...you can't do that!"

"I just did," Washington raised his eyebrow and pulled his helmet back on. "I'll have a word with Sarge and the others so they'll contact me if you try to sneak out or teleport," he added, looking sternly at Lambda, who had just appeared. My AI nodded once then logged off again.

"B-but I didn't even do anything wrong!" I protested. "It was Simmons' fault! It was _his_ idea!"

"Yet I'm not Simmons' father, am I?" Washington retaliated coolly. I scowled and tried to dart back up the way we'd come but he was too quick for me and hoisted me over his shoulder.

"If this is the way we have to do this, so be it," he said calmly to me. I glared at him as he began walking down the path and turned in the direction of Red Base.

* * *

"Grounded," I seethed to Lambda in my room later. "Fucking _grounded_. Why? What was the point of that?! Grif and Simmons didn't get grounded; they just had to fix the Warthogs and help Donut! _I_ get sodding grounded!" I slammed my fist into the wall, leaving a satisfying dent. Lambda raised his eyebrow and began playing some calming music inside my head. I growled slightly and pulled my helmet off, throwing it against the wall. It hit it with a clang and fell down next to the pile of books I was reading at the moment. Scowling viciously, I walked over and picked up the first book on the pile. I turned it over to read the blurb but my attention was diverted when there was a knock at the door.

"_What_?!" I snapped irritably.

"Calma, calma," Lopez chided as he entered and shut the door behind him.

"Why are you here Lopez?" I asked wearily, putting the book down and walking back over to my bed.

"Derechos de Niñera," Lopez rolled his eyes. "Sarge quiere uno de nosotros para permanecer aquí con usted para asegurarse de que usted no trate de escapar o cosas así hasta que Washington decida un-terreno en el que."

"Great," I complained, turning my head and scowling out the window.

"It's only for a short while," Lambda reassured me and Lopez nodded in agreement.

"But still," I complained to both of them. "Look at that. That's Grif, Simmons and Donut coming back from trying to get the Blues' flag. It's usually _my_ job to help them but then Washington grounded me!" I scowled and kicked the wall next to my bed. I know I was acting childish and I was feeling a bit sorry for myself but at that moment in time, I honestly did not give a shit.

"It's not the end of the world," Lambda soothed me. "After all, it is only temporary."

"Pero aún así," Lopez spoke up, surprising all of us. "Hay que recordar que Washington es su padre y no le ha visto en quince años , tres de los cuales ni siquiera sabía que estaba su hija. No es más que preocupado y quiere lo mejor para ti, especialmente ahora que usted tiene de nuevo y no quiere perderte de nuevo , para que él destruiría aún más que de Epsilon autodestrucción."

There was a long silence after he'd finished his monologue.

"Er, I don't know exactly what you said Lopez but it sounded slightly philosophical," I spoke up eventually. Lopez smirked.

"A veces me sorprendo a mí mismo , incluso."

* * *

**A.N. Lopez translations: 'Temper, temper', 'Babysitting duties. Sarge wants one of us to stay in here with you to make sure that you don't try to escape or shit like that until Washington decides to un-ground you', 'But still. You have to remember that Washington is your father and hasn't seen you in fifteen years, three of which he didn't even know you were his daughter. He's just concerned and wants the best for you, especially now that he's got you back and doesn't want to lose you again; that would destroy him even more than Epsilon's self-destruction' 'Sometimes I surprise even myself'**

**I know that in this fanfic there have been hints of a pairing involving Escopeta and one of the boys from Blood Gulch. However, I am undecided so I have decided to let you, the readers, pick whether she should be paired with:**

**Grif**

**Simmons**

**Tucker**

**Other**

**No pairing**

**If you have a fanfiction account then please PM me with your choice but if you are a guest reader then please leave your choice in your review. The one with the most votes will be revealed in a later chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed/favourited this story! It wouldn't exist without you!**


	25. Chapter 25

**A.N. Sorry for not updating for ages but there was a lot going on at school which is now thankfully over for now, much to the relief of my writing hand. As you may have noticed, last chapter Teams and Families broke the 100 reviews barrier. Once again, special thanks go to glittering wolf and U will nvr know who were the 1st and 100th reviewers and thanks also go to everyone who reviewed and set a new record for the number of reviews recieved for 1 chapter; a whopping 30. Thanks to everyone who has voted for the pairing in this story. The poll is now closed and it was very close. However, I can reveal that the winner was Grif but if you want to see what the overall results are then here they are:**

**Tucker: 11**

**Simmons: 0**

**Grif: 13**

**No pairing: 2**

**Other: 2**

**Anyhoo, hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks for being so patient with me.**

* * *

"This is fucking awful!" I kicked my beside cabinet over, not caring that the books on it went flying across the room.

"For the love of fuck, calm down!" Lambda grumbled. I growled at him and flung myself on my bed. I had only been grounded for three days but I was so fucking _bored_! I rolled over onto my back and stared moodily at the ceiling. Washington still hadn't given me a release date and the Reds weren't doing anything about it! I still think that they all, even Sarge, were too scared of him to try anything. What had I even done wrong?! Nothing had _happened _and all we had done was fall asleep! All I wanted to do was scream and throw things at whatever or whoever was foolish enough to get in my way. I leapt up again and stormed over to the cabinet with the intention of destroying everything on it. Lambda appeared again and opened his mouth before he closed it again.

"Do continue," he said calmly.

"Huh?" I stopped and stared at him. "Are you taking the piss?"

"Not at all," Lambda replied without even a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I believe it would be best for you to take your anger out by any means possible which therefore will use it up and subsequently calm you down."

"That does make sense," I admitted, setting the lamp back down on the cabinet and walking back to my bed. Lying down on it, I grabbed a book and absently dlicked through the pages, not really reading it, when an idea occured to me.

"Lambda, can you try and contact Texas again?"

"Why...?"

"Because I need to vent to _someone _and I can't really do it around the guys here, no offence to them."

"Alright," Lambda sighed and activated the radio.

* * *

"_Recieving you strength seven_," Omega's voice sounded over the radio 45 minutes later.

"Can we talk to Agent Texas?" Lambda requested politely; Omega's temper was more volatile than Sarge's.

"_Well you _could_..._" Omega replied airily.

"Well, could you put her on then?" Lambda asked, his voice still calm but I felt a slight twinge of annoyance that wasn't my own.

"_I _could_ put her on..._" Omega answered, still toying with him.

"Just do it Omega!" I snapped.

"_Alright. Temper, temper,_" he chuckled. "_Jeez, so much _anger."

"This coming from the fucking anger fragment."

"_...True. Alright, I _suppose _I _could _put Texas on_," we heard him grumbling a bit more before Texas' voice came through.

"_Hello?_"

"Hi Texas."

"_Hey sweetie. How's everything going?_"

"Crap. Washington grounded me."

"_What? What for?_"

"Nothing. All that happened is that Grif, Simmons and I went to capture the Blues' flag but got caught by Tucker, he chased us for abit, we went back to our bases but found the locked up for the night and we then fell asleep together. Nothing _happened_!"

"_I'm sure nothing did but you have to remember sweetheart that Wash hasn't seen you, and known you're his daughter, since Project Freelancer. He loves you very much and only wants the best for you._"

"By grounding me?"

"_Ok__, maybe he over reacted a little. I'll try and have a word with him. Does that sound ok to you?"_

"Beats being stuck here doing nothing. Thanks Texas."

"No problem. Any time."

* * *

"D'you feel better for that?" Lambda asked after I had finished talking with Texas.

"Yeah..." I admitted as there was a knock on the door. "It's unlocked!" The door opened and Grif entered.

"Hey Grif," I said as he shut it again and walked over.

"Hey," he replied, sitting down next to me on the bed. "Any word yet on when Wash is going to unground you?"

"No but I've just had a talk with Texas and she said that she's going to have a word with him."

"Er, really?" Grif swallowed heavily. "Well she can be very...persuasive I guess."

"Don't worry, she's not coming here," I reassured him and he visibly relaxed. "I think she's just going to contact him via the radio."

"I see. So...are you doing anything at the moment?"

"Well I was intending to watch a film or something. D'you want to stay for that?"

"Sure," he shrugged, stretching out as I got off the bed and grabbed a DVD. Walking over to the TV and slotting the disk in the DVD player, I glanced over my shoulder to see Grif lounging on my bed, his hand messing up his already adorably scruffy hair. I turned back to the TV because my cheeks felt like they were on fire. As the DVD began to play, I walked back over to my bed as Lambda dimmed the lights. Grif stretched back, his arm draping around my shoulders, and pulled me closer to him as the episode selection came on. Grabbing the remote, I picked one of my favourite ones and leant back slightly as it began to play.

"You know," Grif commented when we were about 15 minutes into the episode (if you haven't figured it out, yes we were watching Hawaii Five-0. Problem?). "Lori's seriously hot. Not a patch on you though."

"_Huh_?" my head jerked round and I stared at Grif, my cheeks redder than my armour. "What?" Grif started to; he obviously hadn't meant to say it aloud.

"Um...er...nothing..." he said lamely.

I swallowed, suddenly wondering why my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.


End file.
